National Parks of Taiwan

At the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which took place in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, biodiversity mainstreaming was the primary strategy and goal, with the hope that by 2020, all people would be aware of the value of biodiversity and know what conservation measures can be implemented.

The United Nations believes 2020 to be a crucial year of facing challenges and making changes, and has dubbed it the 'super year for biodiversity' across the globe.

The Yushan National Park Headquarters organized the Symposium on National Park Biodiversity Mainstreaming and Citizen Science Research on September 4 (Fri). Not only did the symposium help the general public understand the importance of biodiversity mainstreaming, but it also demonstrated how biodiversity in Yushan National Park integrates cooperation from relevant conservation organizations, schools, and the general public, as they jointly participate in ecological research and scientific exploration of the park. In addition, it presented the ways through which online citizen science platforms (e.g., eBird, iNaturalist, etc.) are currently applied to various ecosystem monitoring efforts across national parks in Taiwan.

The goal is for volunteers, national park staff, and even the general public to share national parks' mission on ecological conservation and protection of natural resources. The public can enrich their knowledge on biodiversity by participating in conservation, nature observation, or outdoor science exploration activities.

'Biodiversity' refers to an interdependent ecosystem consisting of different genes, species, and habitats.

'The biodiversity mainstreaming promoted by the United Nations aims to incorporate the concept of sustainable biodiversity into existing industries so that it can be advocated and implemented by everyone in their daily lives. For example, concepts on bird protection before engaging in fishing can improve the design of fishing nets and prevent seabirds from being injured during the fishing process.

National parks have the natural resources and environment to serve as a research base, bringing students into the real world to appreciate the wonders and richness of natural and cultural resources.

The symposium on September 4 was dedicated to the detailed description of different biomonitoring apps from home and abroad.

Compared with Taiwan Roadkill Observation Network and eBird Taiwan, which require years of previously accumulated data and expert knowledge to use, Taiwan Biodiversity Network (TBN) and the iNaturalist citizen scientist platform have extended their reach to the general public.

The TBN app requires only three steps to operate: observing, taking photos, and uploading them, fully in line with the concept that anyone can become a citizen scientist if he or she is willing. The Yushan National Park Headquarters has also set up the Yushan National Park Flowering Plant Phenological Monitoring Project on iNaturalist, which will be included in the National Parks of Taiwan Biodiversity Database (NPGIS) in the future.

The presentation file of this seminar can be downloaded from theevent website, and the video can be viewed on theParksTaiwan channel on Youtube.