The Executive Yuan approved on December 19 the draft plan for the “Dongsha Marine National Park Project” but at the same time asked the Ministry of Interior to change its name to “Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park Project” in accordance with the deliberation result of the 1273rd committee meeting of the Council for Economic Planning and Development. This revision was aimed at highlighting the conservation of Dongsha Atoll ecosystem and special terrain characteristics. The MOI officially made public Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park Plan and Map on Jan 17.The Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park, the 7th national park in Taiwan, is also the first one to focus mainly on coral reef ecology. Located 240 nautical miles southwest of Kaohsiung, it covers an area of 353,600 hectares. In order to effectively conserve and revive resources as well as to monitor and carry out ecological research, the Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park has four function areas: Ecological protected area、Scenic area、 Cultural/historic area、 Existing use area. Taken into consideration in the classification are the special characteristics of the nature resources in the entire area and their utilization. According to the Construction and Planning Agency under the Ministry of the Interior, the Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park will shoulder the responsibilities of conserving ocean resources, enhancing Taiwan’s status in international ocean conservation and educating the public on marine conservation. In the future, the management body will set up the marine national park management headquarters to consolidate the planning and management of all marine national parks, including the Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park.

Source:Construction and Planning Agency, Ministry of the Interior , 2006-12-18
Re-edited by Taiwan News