Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Extent of this site: North from the Jishui River; south to the Jiangjun River; the eastern border is Provincial Highway 17, and the western
border is the western edge of the sand flats of Wangyie Harbor.
Beimen is about 30 km north of Tainan City and is a coastal wetland. The terrestrial landscape of this area consists mainly of salt fields as well as aquaculture ponds, scattered among which are several fishing villages. Within the west side of this area and the sand flats of the Wangyie Harbor is a lagoon where the fisheries are abundant.
In the northeastern portion of the lagoon, there’s a mud swamp with an area of about 50 ha where the largest pure stand of Black Mangrove in Taiwan is situated. However, due to the human activities, currently there are only about 10 ha of the Black Mangrove forest and there’s need of urgent action to conserve this area.
IBA A1 criterion species: Saunders’s Gull, Black-faced Spoonbill
Eash year Saunders’s Gull winter here;
Time 1997 Nov. 1998 Jan. 1999 Jan. 2000 Dec. 2001 Mar.
No. of SG 73 39 120 15 40
• Black-faced Spoonbills: maximum number of 9 birds (2001.1.13).
IBA A4i criterion species: Great Cormorants roost here from November to March each year, with a maximum of 292 birds (21 February 1998).
• At this site, 121 species have been recorded.
• Black-winged Stilts can be seen throughout the year. They breed here in summer with a maximum of 377 birds (21 February 1998).
• Great Egrets roost at Beimen from September to March, with a maximum of 292 birds (21 February 1998).
• From September to May, Dunlins are winter migrants, with a maximum of 6,740 birds (20 December 1997).
• The Whiskered Tern can be seen throughout the year, but mainly as a winter migrant, with a maximum of 2,001 birds (11 April 1998).
Non-bird biodiversity: • This is one of the major oyster cultivation areas in Taiwan.
• This was once the northernmost distribution of the mangrove Lumnitzera Lumnitzera racemosa and it is highly regrettable that it has been eradicated here.
• Investigations reveal that there are 7 species of fiddler crabs, including the endemic Uca formosensis.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
• There is illegal opening fishponds.
• There is filling in of wetlands.
• There is a plan for an international airport here.
• Industrial and municipal wastewater is being discharged into the Jishui River.
• There’s pressure from tourism development. The Taiwan Tourism Administration’s plan to promote the development of the Hsuangchun Recreational Area has imposed great negative impacts on this area. However, due to the shortage of the personnel and budget, there is no power for the management and administration, and consistently no way to open it to the outside.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Lobbying activities:
• The 1994 Planning examples of environmentally sensitive Areas at the coast of Taiwan listed Beimen and the Jiangjun River estuary as ecologically sensitive areas.
• The Tainan County Government has been replanting the mangrove species, Black Mangrove Avicennia marina, Lumnitzera Lumnitzera racemosa, and Four-petaled Mangrove Rhizophora mucronata.
Legislation:
• The area south of the Jishui River Estuary, west of Provincial Highway 17 (Wangyie Harbor sand flats), and the mangrove cultivation area was designated as the Beimen Coastal Protected Area.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Beimen (Taiwan, China). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/beimen-iba-taiwan-china on 23/12/2024.
