South Budai Wetlands, watching the migratory birds dancing and fluttering!
South Budai Wetlands is located within the idle salt field at the southern metropolitan side of Budai Township in Chiayi County. In the olden days, it was part of the sixth district salt fields of the Budai Salt plant. Its entire land area (including the lagoon water area) reaches around 1,385 hectares, connecting to West Coast Expressway and Zhanliaogou to the north, bordering Provincial Highway 17 and Budai Junior High School to the east, transcending across Longgong River up to Provincial Highway 17 to the south and bounded by the lagoon waters to the west. Several hundred years ago, South Budai Wetlands was originally part of the lagoon water area of Daofeng Sea (which is the remains of Haomei Lagoon today). Subsequently, because our predecessors moved in and cleared the land, the surrounding fish farms became the source of food to feed that the residents of the surrounding settlements. It was until post-1930s that the Japanese expanded southwards and had urgent demand for salt which was acclaimed as the mother of industrial salt products and forcibly expropriated the breeding farms and turn them into salt manufacturing plants.
In the 50s and 60s after Taiwan’s restoration, the salt drying industry once created the dazzling and rosy outlook of the “White Gold Era” along the Southwest coastal region of Taiwan. However, with the transformation of Taiwan’s society and economic structure, the salt industry in Taiwan could not fight off the globalized competition from the opening up of imports to salt products. Taiwan Salt Company ultimately announced the stopping of salt drying in 2002, officially bringing down the curtain on the development of the Taiwan salt industry.
To date, the salt fields that have been idle for years have caused the ground strata to sink due to the extraction of underground water and erosion from the rainwater over the years. On the contrary, it has become an attraction for the flocks of migratory birds with nature in play. These summer migratory birds come here in search of food in the wetlands, especially during September of every year to April of the subsequent year. This area has even become the most important habitat for wild birds along the Southwest coast region.
In the South Budai Wetlands, you can see black-faced spoonbills and white spoonbills as well as other protected animals coming to this habitat
