In recent years, the Fisheries Research Institute, Council of Agriculture has tried to introduce the concept of resilience management to intertidal zones in Penghu, in order to integrate habitat improvement, adjust release strategies, and plan curriculums for community environmental education and civic scientific methods, which are intended to establish the conservation thinking of community resilience management. From 2020 to 2021, the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center cooperated with the Chienshan Power Plant of Taiwan Power Company to implement the plan of Rooting in Marine Fertility and Environmental Education. For different communities in Huxi Township, Penghu County, appropriate benthic species, such as seaweeds, seagrass, and corals, were selected according to the environmental conditions of the intertidal zones or subtidal zones of communities to construct habitats by means of restoration, thus, providing diverse habitat environments. In combination with appropriate species release, the resilience of the local ecological and social system has been strengthened, with good results and very positive comments from local communities.
The Fisheries Research Institute pointed out that Penghu has a variety of intertidal zone environments, such as seagrass bed ecosystems and shallow coral ecosystems, which provide important local ecological services and are an important part of marine ecology. In recent years, habitat destruction, fishing pressure, tourism industry developments, and changes in the marine environment have seriously affected the operations of the ecological functions of intertidal zones and the goal of sustainable development by communities. The decline of the endemic octopus population, the overfishing of Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus, and the surge of intertidal tourists in Penghu have all highlighted the need for more comprehensive thinking for the future management of intertidal zones in Penghu.
According to the Fisheries Research Institute, resilience refers to the ability of ecosystems to absorb and adjust to disturbances to maintain their original structure, function, identifiability, and feedback during changes or pressures. The core concept of resilience management is how to improve or increase a system's ability to withstand external pressure and maintain dynamic balance through management actions. Thus, considering the principle of ecological operations, the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center has released ecologically important species, such as algae-eating Tectus pyramis, and the detritus-eating or omnivorous Babylonia areolata, Laevistrombus canarium, and Portunus pelagicus. In addition to meeting the needs of community utilization, such release programs are also significant to strengthen ecological functions and help to maintain marine biodiversity. The Center provides environmental education to communities through instructions regarding observations through a mobile phone microscope, the concepts of biodiversity and the food chain in combination with civic scientific concepts and methods, and establishing the foundation of community self-management, in order that the people of the community can participate in the environmental monitoring of intertidal zones and master the marine ecological environment. It is expected that such knowledge will encourage the community to take more appropriate actions in marine activities and intertidal zone management decisions.
According to the Fisheries Research Institute, the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center released L. canarium juveniles in Tanbian Village and Xujia Village and bred P. pelagicus seedlings in alga fields in Hongluo Village, which received very positive comments from local communities. Local people expect the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center to constantly assist in the management of community marine resources. In the future, the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center will promote the experience of Huxi Township to other areas in Penghu, which will gradually construct the resilience management competencies of communities in Penghu.
Laevistrombus canarium released in the waters of Tanbian Village and Xujia Village are detritus feeders in the ecological system and play an important role in energy and material cyclin
People from Hongluo Community and students from Huxi Elementary School participated in the rehabilitation of Sargassum Field, in order to help the public understand the effects of habitat improvement
Using mobile phone microscopes to help people understand plankton diversity and food chain relationships
Using 3C tools as civic scientific survey tools will help the public understand ecological changes in intertidal zones