Taking the next step: the 21st National Parks and Natural Preserves Conference Between Taiwan and China
Last Updated: 2016-06-14
The National Parks and Natural Preserves Conference Between Taiwan and China is 21 years old. The two sides have engaged in this forum since 1994. National Park Association in Taiwan has been the host on behalf of Taiwan. The association’s core mission has been to promote academic research related to national parks, environmental education, and nature preservation. It has also devoted to the exchange between national parks in China and Taiwan, to train professional staff, and to promote, coach, and operate other businesses related to national parks. Mr. Yan Xun, the representative of China, works at the bureau for wildlife protection of the Department of National Forests. Professionals from both sides gathered to learn about the current state of things on the preservation of ecology and the direction and goals for the future. The forum is getting to its 21th year. The initial goal for establishing this conference was to provide a platform upon which the two sides could communicate. Though small, Taiwan is rich in bio- and eco-diversity, indeed an island of treasure trove. The nine national parks on the island strive to preserve the ecology and become important habitats for all lives. National Park Association in Taiwan and national parks have joined hands to promote environmental education, environmental change, and biodiversity. Employing GIS, cloud computing, and findings in more than 400 studies, park administrations have put forth a system of “biodiversity database and knowledge platform.” With a map interface and cloud technology, the system lively presents on the Internet animal and plant lives in national parks. It is a paragon for the theme of this conference: biodiversity, sustainable preservation, and utilization of new technologies. Now, onto the preservation of tigers and Formosan black bears President Lin indicated that the conference, in keeping with the theme of biodiversity, had invited Mr. Yan Xun, chief engineer at the bureau for wildlife protection of the Department of National Forests in China to present. His experience in the tiger in China echoes the work on the preservation of Formosan black bears at Yushan National Park. A major habitat for tigers in the world, China boasts four subspecies—Siberian tiger, South China tiger, Indochinese tiger, and Bengal tiger—but they are extremely rare because there are only between 40 and 50 of them left. Their decline has been due mainly to limited and highly fragmented habitats, which restrict tiger’s movement. Mr. Yan has closely monitored tigers and evaluated the expansion of new habitats. He hoped that a win-win situation could be reached for the safety of people and the growth of tiger population. Next stop: making national parks better With 21 annual meetings under its belt, the National Parks and Natural Preserves Conference Between Taiwan and China is an important and successful platform for cooperation. Each conference featured professionals from both sides of the strait to present, discuss, and share research findings and experiences. There are many facets to a national park, so it is important to take in new knowledge from conferences of different themes, knowledge that can be applied to make national parks better in the future. The conference helps advance the preservation work at national parks on both sides, and it helps make Taiwan ecology more sustainable.
Published: 2015-01-11