Surrounded by the ocean, Taiwan has long inherited a marine culture of boats, harbors and tides. However, the bountifulness of the sea has given humans a misconception that its resources are inexhaustible, while economic development and planning has turned us deaf to the calls from under the horizon.
Setting off from the heart, this June issue of National Park Quarterly brings whole new views of the real ocean.
Veteran marine conservationists and researchers Prof. Kun-hsiung Chang and Kwang-tsao Shao tell of how they braved the unchartered seas of marine conservation in its early days. NPQ would also take readers to Marine National Park Headquarter and Kenting National Park Headquarter for a better understanding of the efforts they've made in safeguarding a sustainable ocean. Another interview with NTU Prof. Kuang-lung Fan of the Institute of Oceanography talks about the key to climate change based on the messages sent by the ocean.
On top of all this, the NPQ team and CPAMI's National Parks Division staff travel over 450 km afar to Dongsha Atoll National Park for a closer look at the painstaking but meaningful life of the Park Headquarters' staff on the currently banned, mysteriously charming islets.
This issue's Brilliant People features Zai-quan Xiao of National Park Police Corps, who reveals the gentle side of a tough guy during his hardworking enforcement of lagoon conservation. Then through underwater photographer Wen-sung Wang's lens, readers would see stunning spectacles of Taiwan's seas. Finally, let's pay a visit to Shou-shan, with a close-up guided tour of this suburban primitive sanctuary.
As Earth Day 2010 had just come to an end, care to the ocean should never stop. This June issue of NPQ will share with you a different view of marine conservation.
Cover Story: Care for the Ocean
