Initially a wild aquatic vegetable harvested from nature, it was part of the natural scenery when Hakka settlers first arrived. It’s one of the few native aquatic plants among the floating-leaf varieties cultivated in large quantities in Taiwan. Grown in ponds requiring water levels adjusted at designated intervals, these areas traditionally provided excellent foraging for wintering jacanas. People in Meinong developed a deep relationship with the birds, locally referred to as water fairies due to their ability to walk gracefully on the water.

Traditionally farmers in the area cultivated rice all year round. However, in 1895, during the Japanese colonial period, tobacco was introduced as a cash crop and grown from October until January before the land then switched back to rice cultivation the rest of the year. With this new cultivation scheme, as well as the reduction of natural wetlands, jacanas slowly stopped returning and those that did only remained for the winter. Meanwhile, in 1975, Chung Hwa-jin began to cultivate white-water snowflake in small quantities, try to make the local supply more stable.

In 2000, a major agricultural shift took place. The government stopped purchasing tobacco and people began considering newer land use options. Farmers looked to white-water snowflake, with its ties to local history, culture, and the environment, as well as the fact it could be harvested 3-4x a year, and began cultivating it in earnest. With the habitat created by the newly expanded planting areas, jacanas could be seen returning to Meinong. However, after the ponds were drained and cleaned after each harvest, they were not useable to the birds, especially during the breeding season.

Taking this into consideration, local people wanted to see if it was possible to create habitat to accommodate breeding jacanas. Therefore, in 2017, Liu Hsiao-shen, executive director of the Meinong People’s Association, and his wife Huang Shu-mei, both members of the KWBS, applied to rent land adjacent to Meinong Lake for this purpose. Formerly known as Zhongzheng Pi, at 21 ha Meinong Lake is Kaohsiung’s second largest lake. Initially created as a reservoir to help with crop irrigation, it has since become an important site for both resident and migratory bird species. It seemed to be the perfect spot for jacanas to breed. This supposition was proven by the eight hatchlings counted year. These were followed by six hatchlings in 2018, 10 in 2019, and 17 in 2020. Efforts were further bolstered in 2020 when Liu and Huang began fundraising to do a public land lease of wetland habitat. They accumulated 69 donors, including both individuals and local groups, pooling enough money to rent the land now known as the Pheasant-tailed Jacana Publicly Leased Wetland. It contains 1 ha of land including 0.5 ha of water space.

That same year, The Tourism Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government (TBKCG) announced its 2020 Meinong Lake Aquatic Environment Improvement Plan which aimed to focus on enhancing the local ecosystem and the environment around Meinong Lake. Kaohsiung’s largest bird conservation group, the KWBS, took this opportunity to pitch the Kaohsiung Aquatic Ecosystem Improvement and Public Participation Plan using Pheasant-tailed Jacanas as an Indicator Species to the TBKCG. The group contended that through habitat protection and creation, the results of conservation efforts could be quantified. Furthermore, by cooperating with the public sector on land management, larger areas of wetlands and floodplain could be adopted, leading to a larger habitat area which would in turn create more opportunities for breeding success and overall ecosystem conservation. Lastly, by providing a safe breeding environment through habitat creation alongside the already existing white-water snowflake paddy fields, the area could become as a breeding base for the population. Habitat restoration efforts could also have the effect of bringing back the disappeared aquatic plants and ecosystems formerly found at Meinong Lake. During negotiations, the tourism bureau agreed to help prepare to site while the KWBS agreed to assist in the subsequent public adoption of the land, management of the property and maintenance work. An agreement was reached on the proposal and site planning got underway.