(CNA / 11-04-10) .Two environmental groups called on Taiwan's people Sunday to purchase public land near the estuary of the country's longest river and put the land under trust to protect endangered Chinese white dolphins.

Tsai Chia-yang, chairman of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union Changhua Division, said that fewer than 100 Chinese white dolphins -- also known as Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins -- remained along the west coast of Taiwan because of industrial and land development.

The dolphins, which are white in color and endemic to Taiwan, were discovered in 2002 off the island's west coast and in 2008 listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered. They are usually seen between 20 to 800 meters from shore as they prefer shallow coastal waters.

The dolphins are on the verge of extinction in the area, where biodiversity has been seriously threatened by economic development over the past three to four decades, Tsai said.

He said the government has preserved over 4,000 hectares of land near the estuary of Jhuoshuei River between the western counties of Changhua and Yunlin to be used for the development of a new naphtha cracking plant.

The area, however, has traditionally been a haven for Chinese white dolphins, other marine animals and migratory birds.

Meanwhile, Tung Chin-sheng, chairman of the Taipei-based Taiwan Environmental Information Center, said his office invited Oliver Maurice, an official with the International National Trust Organization in charge of planning and development, to Taiwan to help residents buy public land.

Tung said that according to the center's plan, a corridor of 200 hectares of land along the estuary will be purchased in the first phase of the project, with each unit of 1 square meter zoned as one share and selling at a cost of NT$119.

A trust fund will be raised through the land sales, Tung said, adding that the drive is expected to finish in 90 days.

"All the nation's citizens are welcome to be a landlord, " he said.

So far, over NT$1.8 million (US$57,100) has been raised through an online fund-raising drive, he said.

Maurice said that all the land, coastline and cultural assets, once under trust, would be prohibited from being resold for generations to come.

The Chinese white dolphins have an extremely low birth rate and a life span of 30-40 years. It takes 10-12 years for them to reach sexual maturity and a female dolphin gives birth once every 3-4 years, Tung said.