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Good practice Imported

Guantian Green Conservation Payment for Pheasant-tailed Jacana Farmland (Tainan, Taiwan)

Taiwan · Tainan · See the Taiwan profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 64% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 1998, Taiwan's Forestry Bureau and Tainan City have paid Guantian farmers to farm pesticide-free for the endangered pheasant-tailed jacana; nests grew from 52 to 577 and the model scaled nationwide to 186 farmers on 214 ha.

<50 birds
Taiwan jacana population before the scheme (1998)
85 birds
Birds killed in the 2009 poisoning incident (2009)
52 fledglings
Fledglings remaining after the 2009 poisoning incident (2009)
18 to 57 farmers
Guantian pilot farmers (2010-2015)
18.3 to 47.4 hectares
Guantian pilot area (2010-2015)
186 farmers
Green Conservation Label farmers nationwide (by 2015)
213.91 hectares
Green Conservation Label area nationwide (by 2015)
52 to 577 nests
Jacana nests in Guantian (1999-2014)
57 to 926 juveniles
Fledged juveniles (1999-2014)
707 birds
Wintering bird census (December 2014)
>1,000 individuals
Annual population since 2016 (since 2016)
~95 %
Guantian water-chestnut farms participating in conservation-friendly cultivation (current)
10-15 % of sales
Revenue share returned to farmers from branded products

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Forestry Bureau, Taiwan / Tainan City Government / Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation
Period
1998-present
Keywords
wetland agroforestry, endangered species farmland, eco-label certification, water chestnut cultivation

Context

In 1998 Taiwan's Forestry Bureau and the Tainan City Government, with the Wild Bird Society of Tainan and the Chinese Wild Bird Federation, launched the 'Incentives to Protect the Pheasant-tailed Jacana Plan' after the species' Taiwan population had fallen below 50 birds. The jacana nests almost exclusively in the flooded water-chestnut paddies of Guantian District, Tainan, tying its survival to farmers avoiding herbicides, rodenticides, poisoned bait and animal traps.

Objectives

To protect and grow the jacana population by incentivising pesticide-free farming, and to scale a market-based conservation-payment model beyond the original pilot area.

Activities

A 2009 poisoning incident that killed 85 birds pushed the Forestry Bureau and the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation to formalise a market-based 'Green Conservation Label' payment scheme from 2010: certified pesticide-free farms receive a price premium and a revenue-sharing return (e.g. branded Lingsiang water-chestnut jelly returns roughly 10-15% of sales to participating farmers). The Guantian pilot grew from 18 farmers on 18.3 ha in 2010 to 57 farmers on 47.4 ha by 2015, while the Green Conservation Label expanded nationwide to 186 farmers across 213.91 ha covering more than 35 protected species by the same year.

Results

Jacana nests in Guantian rose from 52 in 1999 to 577 in 2014, fledged juveniles from 57 to 926, and a December 2014 census counted 707 wintering birds. The population has exceeded 1,000 individuals annually since 2016, and roughly 95% of Guantian's water-chestnut farms now participate in some form of conservation-friendly cultivation.

Conclusions

The exact scale of direct government cash subsidy per farmer is not clearly published — the scheme leans more on certification, price premiums and revenue-sharing than on a flat per-hectare payment, so its income guarantee to farmers is more variable than schemes with fixed per-hectare rates.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No direct government subsidy figure is published; the scheme relies on price premiums and revenue-sharing (10-15% of branded product sales) rather than a flat payment, so cost_band is inferred as low relative to fixed per-hectare PES schemes.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — The scheme has run continuously since 1998 (27+ years to date); classified long.
Staffing & skills
Taiwan Forestry Bureau, Tainan City Government, Wild Bird Society of Tainan, Chinese Wild Bird Federation, Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation (label formalisation from 2010)

Conditions for success

  • The species' near-total dependence on a single crop system (flooded water-chestnut paddies) makes farmer behaviour the primary lever
  • A market-based price premium and revenue-sharing model (e.g. branded Lingsiang water-chestnut jelly) rather than a flat subsidy
  • A formal eco-label certification (Green Conservation Label) enabling nationwide scaling since 2010

Common failure modes

  • The 2009 poisoning incident killed 85 birds despite the scheme already running for over a decade, showing continued vulnerability to pesticide/rodenticide misuse
  • The direct government cash subsidy per farmer is not clearly published, so the income guarantee to farmers is more variable than fixed per-hectare schemes

Where it fits

Governance type
joint national-agency/city-government scheme with NGO/foundation partners
Scale
district pilot scaled to national label
Income level
high-income (Taiwan)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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