環海島嶼的臺灣，因特殊的地理環境位置，擁有全球少有的海洋生物多樣性熱點。也因地狹人稠，導致島嶼周圍許多海洋生物在尚未詳細描述研究之前即慘遭破壞，甚至滅種消失。因此，有必要加強海洋生態保育人才的培育，深化基礎調查及建立海洋生態資料庫，成為以科學研究為理論基石的施政，復育海域生態環境，保全我們賴以生存的各式海洋資源。

    Surrounded by the seas, Taiwan has a unique geographical environment which makes one of the world's rare hotspots of marine biodiversity. However, the limited space and the crowed population, many marine organisms are endangered, or, even driven to extinction before animals can be thoroughly studied and described. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen talent professions, to deepen basic investigations, and to establish marine ecological databases. By these ways, we can conserve the various marine resources essentially for surviving through making theoretical cornerstone of governance, and restoring marine ecological environments.

    臺灣面積3萬6千平方公里的陸域面積，雖然只佔全球的0.025%，卻因地處歐亞大陸板塊與菲律賓海洋板塊的交接處，加上具有陸棚、深海及熱泉的海洋環境，同時地理位置又位處於東海、南海及菲律賓海三個不同大洋生態系的交會區，終年持續有北流的黑潮過境，與冬季南下的大陸沿岸流及夏季北上的南海表層流，讓臺灣周邊海洋環境成為海洋生物多樣性的熱點，尤其是單位面積海洋生物的物種數，更是高出在相同緯度的國家/地區達有400倍之多。

    Taiwan's land area covers only 0.025% of the global total, at 36,000 square kilometers. However, due to its location at the meeting point of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates, Taiwan possesses marine environments ranging from continental shelves to deep seas and hydrothermal vents. Geographically positioned at the convergence of the East China Sea, South China Sea, and Philippine Sea, along with the continuous northward flow of the Kuroshio Current and the seasonal southward movement of the continental coastal currents in winter and northward movement of the surface currents in summer, Taiwan's surrounding marine environment has become a hotspot of marine biodiversity. The species diversity of marine organisms per unit area in Taiwan is over 400 times higher than that of regions/countries at similar latitudes.

    這些珍貴的海洋生物多樣性資產，在過去數十年來，雖然已有許多海洋生物學者的投入研究，但仍因物種豐富度太高，研究人力仍大大不足，無法完全記錄的窘境。同時，伴隨著台灣地狹人稠，陸域面積狹小，不敷各種高度工商業發展所需，尤其是許多大型的工業開發案皆選擇在濱海地區進行，以致於許多海洋生物在未能詳實記錄前就遭受破壞。

    Despite the efforts of many marine biologists over the past few decades, these valuable marine biodiversity assets still face challenges due to the overwhelming richness of species and insufficient research manpower to fully document them. Furthermore, with Taiwan's limited land area unable to meet the demands of various highly industrial and commercial developments, many large-scale industrial development projects have been carried out in coastal areas, leading to the destruction of many marine organisms before they can be adequately recorded.

    因此，為因應我國在民國107年4月28日之海洋委員會正式掛牌，其下包含有海洋保育署及國家海洋研究院(海洋生態及保育研究中心)，對海洋生態及保育人才需求甚廣，本校盤點集結海科院中已有學有專精的師資，在民國109年奉准成立「海洋生態與保育研究所」，積極培育我國產官學界所需海洋生態與保育的專業人才，以為實踐我國「海洋立國」之第一線海洋生態保育尖兵。

    In response to the establishment of the Ocean Affairs Council on April 28, 2018, which includes the Marine Conservation Administration and the National Institute of Marine Research (Marine Ecology and Conservation Research Center), there is a significant demand for talents in marine ecology and conservation. Therefore, our university plans to inventory and consolidate the faculty expertise within the Institute of Oceanography to establish a Marine Ecology and Conservation Research Institute, actively cultivating professional talents needed by the production, government, and academic sectors in the field of marine ecology and conservation, thereby serving as the vanguard in realizing Taiwan's vision of becoming a "Maritime Nation."