Pan Chong-cheng, an activist who has devoted part of his career to advocating for the protection of the algal reef, fears that an upcoming Dec. 18 referendum in which Taiwanese will vote on whether to construct the terminal may spell certain doom for the fragile ecosystem. - REUTERS
Carefully treading across thousands of small seawater pools, Pan Chong-cheng is on a mission to protect Taiwan's northwestern shores.
The area is home to one of the world's largest shallow coral reefs.
Its fate will be up for a vote next week- when millions of Taiwanese will decide whether or not to approve the building of a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal right on the reef.
The Taiwanese government says the terminal is crucial to maintaining the island's energy supply, hard hit by power cuts earlier this year.
Energy used to power the island's big industry churning out the world's microchips.
But Pan believes environmental conservation should be prioritized.
"This country seemingly only cares about economic development and money, their values and interests don't apply to ecosystems or nature... No matter how much money you make, in the end it will all disappear. But nature will be forever lost once you have destroyed it, because in case this reef here is destroyed, it will be impossible to restore."
The government says fears of environmental damage are ungrounded and that the project will cut carbon emissions, helping the island move away from coal and nuclear power.
Pan claims to have kicked off the upcoming referendum by collecting signatures for his own petition.
In a sign of the vote's importance, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the site in Taoyuan last month.
"Everyone uses electricity...but we can find less polluting ways to generate power. Right now there are many coal plants in central and southern Taiwan, if we increase power generation through natural gas in the north, our carbon emissions can be cut by half, air pollution can be decreased to one third. To protect the algal reef and decreasing air pollution in central and southern Taiwan should be of equal value."
Coal provided nearly half of Taiwan's electricity last year, according to government data.
But natural gas is on the rise, set to make up half of the island's electricity by 2025.
