National Parks of Taiwan

Since the establishment of the Dongsha Marine National Park by the Ministry of Interior Affairs in January, 2007, and the announcement of its Marine National Park Administration in October of the same year, the Dongsha Marine National Park has been actively building up its network system for the marine conservation area and educating the public in how to respect and protect the ocean. To conserve the beautiful marine environment of Taiwan, the Marine National Park Administration held its “Marine Conservation School Promotion Tour” that visited every elementary school in Kaohsiung City to promote marine conservation and educate schoolchildren to treat the ocean with a humble and respectful attitude. Moreover, schoolchildren were able to learn and think about the importance of marine conservation after listening to the lively explanation of the volunteers from the Marine National Park Administration.

Already in its 5th year of operation, the “Marine Conservation School Promotion Tour” will take place primarily in elementary schools in Kaohsiung City from September 23rd , 2013, to June 21st, 2014. The promotion tour will first take place in the southern part of Taiwan and will expand northward in 2014 to include schools in remote areas such as Liugui and Taoyuan. This year’s promotion tour has expanded its range of activity and the number of its participants, and it is estimated to break past records.

The Marine Nation Park Administration stated that, “Considering the limited promotion hours and sessions in the past promotion tours, this year will be slightly different. Display boards for marine national parks have been made to promote the parks. These boards will be put up in each school for students to read. Later, volunteers will go to the schools to give advanced promotional lessons.” Through the use of display boards and promotion lessons, students will be able to fully absorb the promotion content. Moreover, messages of environmental protection will more easily enter into the lives of these students since the boards will be placed in the busy corridors and hallways. Finally, worksheets designed for the low, middle, and upper grades, will help promotion and teaching to be more effective.

This is the first time the event has promoted marine conservation by placing display boards in schools and providing students with educational worksheets. So far, the results have been positive, and the future “Marine Conservation School Promotion Tour” will be improved based on the remarks from each school visited this year. The National Park Administration hopes that the “Marine Conservation School Promotion Tour” can not only help schoolchildren at the elementary level understand the importance of marine conservation but also encourage them to participate in similar activities and possible even work for marine conservation in the future.