Wildlife Refuge, Major Wildlife Habitats

Taichung City Government (Taichung City Area)

This wetland is in the estuary of Dadu River with Taichung Thermal Power Plant to the north, stretching along Longjing embankment and Bianzaitou embankment to National Freeway No. 3 on the east, bound by Shengang embankment, Quanxing coastal embankment, Keliao North Levee and Tianwei Waterway on the south, and the 6-meter isobaths off the coast on the west.

The alluvial fan downstream Dadu River near the estuary experiences regular flooding, so the land on both banks undergoes frequent changes. Local development has been affected by previous flooding. A case in point was the alteration of the Dadu River course caused by the August 7 floods of 1959, which shifted the estuary from Dadu to the current location. The river has thus become the border between Taichung City and Changhua County. In 1997, a joint effort between Changhua County government and the then Taichung County Government established Dadu Estuary Wildlife Refuge to protect the habitat, food supply, and breeding ground to foster shorebirds.
The estuary of Dadu River, due to its gentle gradient, has a 4-km-wide intertidal zone and fertile estuarine ecology, including the sea area, intertidal zone, river, sand bar, reclaimed land, farmland and fish farm, playing host to an abundance of intertidal organisms. This area is vast and plain, so the embankments of the fish farms serve to fend off high winds for water birds, which makes it an indispensable stopover for migratory birds on their annual journeys.

The botanical survey has recorded 254 species of vascular plants in 68 families in Dadu Estuary, which include 2 rare species, Bolboschoenus planiculmis and three-leaved chaste tree.
Over the years, 200 plus species of birds have been recorded, including 22 protected species. Among them, 70% are water birds. The majority include the Scolopacidae, Charadriidae, Anatidae, Laridae, Ardeidae, and Rallidae. Terrestrial birds account for 30%. The majority are sparrows, house swifts, oriental skylarks, light-vented bulbuls, the Columbidae family and the swallows.
Data collected in Dadu Estuary indicates that the appearance of Eurasian curlews, dunlins, Kentish plovers, ruddy turnstones, grey-tailed tattlers, little terns, and black-faced spoonbills has been spotted in recent years.

Black-faced Spoonbill, Peregrine Falcon, Spotted Greenshank.

Black Stork, Chinese Egret, Baikal Teal, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Common Kestrel, Painted Snipe, Black-naped Tern, Short-eared Owl, Saunders's Gull

Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Brown Shrike.

The wetland is surrounded by the Taichung Thermal Power Plant of Tai-power, Changpin Industrial Zone, and Changpin Landfill Zone, which pollute the water in the wetland. CO2 emission by Taichung Thermal Power Plant of Tai-power has exceeded 370 million tons, the highest around the world for an individual power plant, posing threats to the wetland as well as adjacent counties and cities. In addition, land subsidence caused by excessive extraction of underground water from nearby illegal fishing farms is a major threat to the wetland, and requires action from the management authority.

Forest Bureau, Council of Agriculture; Agriculture Department, Taichung City Government; Agriculture Department, Changhwa County Government; ROC Wild Bird Association