To maintain the ecological balance in Kinmen and its growing environment for local aquatic plants, the Kinmen National Park Administration sent 20 substitute service draftees, in cooperation with 30 other workers from the West District Administration, to clear up apple snails and their eggs spreading around swamps and bushes at Shuangli Lake, Guningtou.

The apple snail scientific name “Pomacea canaliculata”, originating in South America is an omnivorous mollusk that feeds on green plants. The local aquatic plants as lotus, lily, taro, water caltrop, water bamboo and paddy rice seedlings were all invaded by the species, causing devastating effects as harming the water region, endangering the balance of the ecosystem and affecting the conservation of biological diversity.

According to Kinmen National Park, people tend to use pesticide to eradicate the snails entirely, but the residual chemicals will cause a secondary pollution; therefore, clearing by hand is a more effective method. The Park officials then particularly sent substitute service draftees to work with the clearers hired by Guningtou District. They searched for apple snails and their grape-like egg clusters among the bushes at Shuangli Lake and used flower scissors and garbage bags to sweep them out. The cleaning work expected to reduce the damage caused by the fast multiplying species and further create a healthy ecological surroundings.

The Kinmen National Park Administration has arranged its subordinating substitute service draftees lately to maintain the environment in the local communities, such as cleaning trash out of the granite at Cih Causeway, sweeping out apple snails at Shuangli Lake, Guningtou, and clearing up the walking trails in Jhongshanlin. Following the four beliefs of substitute service draftees—care, service, responsibility and principle, the authority will arrange services for homecare and environmental cleaning in the future. Hopefully, the scheme will meet the goals of serving society and physical training for the draftees and wash their notoriety of being “prince soldiers”.