“These dolphins could be extinct within 20 years ... if the government doesn’t protect their habitat,” said Robin J. Winkler, member of the advisory committee to the Green Party Taiwan.

The small population of between 70-100 rare animals — also known as Chinese white dolphins — is confined to a small area along the coastal waters of western Taiwan from Miaoli to Chiayi Counties.

However, because these dolphins live year-round in shallow coastal waters, they are highly vulnerable to the impacts of human activity, such as reduced river flow into estuaries, industrial and agricultural pollution, entanglement in fishing nets, and underwater noise from military exercises.

Winkler thus urged the government to take conservation action and launch a moratorium on economic development along the central west coast, until a thorough assessment of damages to the dolphin’s habitat can be completed.

Projects like the new Formosa Plastics Steel Mill, the Kuokuang Petrochemical Plant, the Jhanggong Power plant, the Dadu Weir, and offshore wind farms could eventually hang in the balance as a result of the assessment.

“Environmental issues have been absent in the legislative campaign because they seem to threaten short-term economic development,” noted Winkler, before presenting a petition to a representative from the Cabinet.

The official then invited Winkler and other activists for a meeting inside the Cabinet.