National Parks of Taiwan

National parks (including national nature parks) in Taiwan have protected Taiwan’s natural and cultural treasures for many years, preserving the richness and depth of Taiwan’s ecology and culture. The Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) collaborated with the headquarters of national parks in organizing the “Landscape Forever Taiwan National Parks Special Exhibition” in the culture gallery on 1F of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall from September 17th to November 1st, 2015. The CPA hopes to create a window for dialogue between urban residents and national parks, so that visitors will understand the achievements of national parks in Taiwan. This exhibition showsmultimedia and first hand materials of national parks, displaying their contribution to protecting natural and cultural heritage in the past 30 years. This event invited numerous experienced interpreters and experts of national parks to help visitors understand national parks, the location and resources of different parks, and the different conservation methods. The exhibition uses digital media together with ecological and artistic techniques to show the current situation of biodiversity conservation and environmental education, guiding visitors to understand the nature, culture and ecology of national parks, and further understand the opportunity for sustainable development, which is a win-win-win situation. This event shows the beauty of Taiwan’s national parks through a series of themes, which document the mountains, sea, ecology, culture and art of national parks in Taiwan, marketing the ecological aesthetics of national land, enhancing environmental education, and transforming conservation concepts into action. The purpose of establishing national parks is to protect natural landscape, wildlife, and historic sites of Taiwan for citizens to use for entertainment and research. Since the National ParkLaw was enacted on June 13th, 1972, a total of 9 national parks have been established, including Kenting, Yangmingshan, Taroko, Sheipa National Park, Kinmen, Dongsha Atoll, Taijiang, and South Penghu Marine National Park. The National Park Law was amended on December 8th, 2010 and added a “national nature park” system; Shoushan National Nature Park Preparatory Office was established on December 6th, 2011. National parks (including national nature parks) account for 8.66% of the land area in Taiwan; protected areas include nature, county, culture, wetland, and marine. Wetlands nationwide were also included into management, gradually completing the national park system. The national park conservation systemwas strengthened in coordination with organizational restructuring, and conservation research was carried out, environmental education was deepened, eco-tourism was promoted, and partnerships were established to meet international standards.