National Parks of Taiwan

After the Dongsha Marine National Park was established in 2007, the Marine National Park Headquarters began actively planning the “Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park,” which was formally established on “World Oceans Day” on June 8th after years of preparation. In this issue we are honored to have Secretary Hsu Shao-Liang of the Marine National Park Headquarters introduce us to the “Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park.”

How is the “Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park” different from the “Dongsha Marine National Park”?

The southern four islets of Penghu are located on an important waterway between Anping and Xiamen, and were the last stop before our ancestors crossed the Taiwan Strait. Hence, the islets have many cultural landscapes, in which Dongchi is the most representative. When ancestors were crossing the Taiwan Strait, most chose to rest and replenish supplies here, and the islet gradually developed a traditional settlement of considerable scale. Buildings on the islet include traditional architectures built from stone, as well as Western-style houses built during the Japanese Colonial Period when fisheries were at its peak. Also, ancestors used stones to build walls to protect crops from winds of the cold northeast monsoon, forming the special“vegetable house”landscape. Unlike Dongsha Marine National Park, which focuses on marine research and conservation of coral ecology, the Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park also preserves precious geological landscape and cultural heritage, coexisting and mutually prospering with local communities.

Did the establishment of “Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park” encounter any difficulties?

The greatest difficulty when trying to establish Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park is the misconception many people had towards national parks. Many fishermen thought that they would not be able to fish or use other marine resources after the national park was established. The most severe cold disaster in the past century occurred in Penghu in 2008. The cold continental climate coupled with low temperature snow water from the Yangtze River flowed south along China’s southeast coast, and caused many marine animals to freeze to death, which greatly impacted fishermen. Experts and scholars conducted an investigation that showed the cold disaster was relatively mild at the southern four islets, and indirectly verified the complex underwater terrain around the islets and the warm sea water brought by a branch of the Kuroshio provided shelter for marine animals. When the fishermen understood that protecting the southern four islets was in fact beneficial to the sustainability of Penghu’s marine resources and fisheries, their attitude gradually changed. Since then, there has been a consensus to properly preserve the sea areas around the southern four islets based on the concept of germplasm bank.

My view of “Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park”

Marine National Park Headquarters encourages everyone to draw near to the ocean and wisely use its resources. The ocean has always been around us, and we hope that the Penghu Southern Four Islets National Park will not only allow citizens to draw near to the ocean, but also understand the marine environment, and further care for the ocean and support ecological conservation and sustainable development.