National Parks of Taiwan

Ensuring that Both Industry and Nature Can Benefit through Active Participation of Residents

To preserve the “harmonious coexistence of people and nature” in the Taijiang aquacultural landscape, the Taijiang National Park Headquarters has devoted a great deal of time and effort into working with local communities. Among these initiatives, the creation of eco-friendly habitats for black-faced spoonbills has produced significant results.

As early as 2010, the Taijiang National Park Headquarters has been engaged in creating eco-friendly habitats for black-faced spoonbills in fish farms. After more than a decade of implementation, review, and improvement work, the main focus of conservation has gradually shifted to giving more attention to the local residents over the years. Only through the willingness of residents to actively and voluntarily participate in habitat conservation can a mutually beneficial model of harmonious coexistence between industry and nature be achieved, and only then can resources be truly managed and utilized sustainably.

Each Eco-Friendly Fish Farm Forms a Part of the Green Conservation Map

The Taijiang National Park Headquarters has actively invited local fishermen on an ongoing basis to participate in activities such as observation, educational workshops, and exchange meetings. The aim is to work together to figure out how to lower the water level of fish farms after the harvest during the migratory bird season, so as to carry out ecologically friendly measures such as leaving behind non-commercial fish, not driving away birds, and not using chemical agents. After over a decade of hard work and the establishment of local partnerships, the fishermen have gradually realized that the conservation of migratory birds has many positive benefits for the restructuring of their industries and the added value of their products!

In addition, when promoting eco-friendly habitat creation, the Taijiang National Park Headquarters requires the collaborating fishermen to cooperate in ecological monitoring and recording the habitat utilization status of migratory birds and other species. These requirements are designed to not add extra pressure to the fishermen, instead they simply record the daily lives of the birds, and through this the fishermen learned to experience the joy of bird-watching and achieved a sense of accomplishment that they have never experienced before!

Taijiang Fishermen’s Photography Exhibition, Seeing the Beauty of Ecological Value

The Taijiang National Park Headquarters held the “Taijiang Fishermen’s Photography Exhibition” at the visitor center to display the photos taken and recorded by fishermen of birds using the fish farms as habitats while they were busy at work. Through the lenses of the fishermen, the importance of eco-friendly habitat creation and biodiversity can be truly conveyed.

The fishermen said that in the process of participating in the eco-friendly habitat creation, they discovered the joy of bird watching. From time to time, they would talk to each other about the status of birds on their own fish farms in their chat group, and even take the initiative to extend the pond sunning time and expand the area of the eco-friendly fish farms, just for the sake of the birds to have a place to feed without any worries.

Due to the positive support from the fishermen, the number of fishermen who want to become partners has increased significantly this year. The Taijiang National Park Headquarters looks forward to working with the fishermen to expand the Green Conservation Map in the future, linking national parks and fish farms to become a large-scale Taijiang waterbird paradise where international migratory species can forage and rest peacefully!