Haomeiliao Nature Reserve

The Haomeiliao Nature Reserve is located in Budai Township in west-central Taiwan's Chiayi County. It is designed to protect offshore sandbars, lagoons, coastal windbreak forests and mangrove forests.

The area is home to a great variety of ecological landscapes. The sandbar gives purchase to coastal vegetation that flourishes in sandy areas. The lagoon contains abundant resources of fish, shrimp, crabs and shellfish, which attract a large number of foraging birds. Few of the crabs here are more than two centimeters in width. The two main species here are Uca Lactea (a kind of fiddler crab that is notable in the fact that the males have only one massively oversized claw) and Mictyris Brevidactylus (a soldier crab with a light blue carapace). Meanwhile, the area's six-hectare mangrove forest consists of several different mangrove species. There are also some plum and olive trees. Such rich variety of plant and animal life makes the Haomeiliao Nature Reserve the best place for ecological observation.