National Parks of Taiwan

Dadan Island is a part of Lieyu Township for Kinmen County, and is located at the southwestern part of Lieyu. Fierce KMT-CPC battles had once waged on this island, and the island was controlled and stationed by the military for numerous years. That is how Dadan Island earned the nickname of “the front line of front lines and the island among the islands.” Its special strategic battle position and long battle history have added a veil of mystery to the island.

After Dadan Island has been ready to open for tourism, The Kinmen National Park Management Office has joined forces with the Kinmen County Transportation and Tourism Office as well as the Agriculture and Forestry Bureau of the Economic Affairs Department to commission the Formosa Ecological Company to execute the “Lieyu Insect Photography Project” since 2015 in order to sustain the natural habitats and understand the growth and decline conditions of local insects. The objectives were to conduct basic field investigations for the insect resources of the Lieyu area by collecting precious images and information. The project has covered the Lieyu Township and the Dadan island, and made remarkable achievements in two years..

Teacher Zhang used the observation documentary method to register up to 569 species in Lieyu that wrote a brand new chapter for the ecology of Taiwan. As a result, a national record of eight new insect species were discovered on Dadan Island,such as Chlaenius junceus, Coptops lichenea, Gonioctena fulva, Vespa tropica, Plutodes exquisita, Psilalcis galsworthyi, Astictopterus jama, Nokona pernix.

Dadan Island has the area of less than 1 square kilometer, but it has continued to break records in terms of the number of new insect species found. Teacher Zhang analyzed that it was due to the geographical differences, and the long-term separation of the island by the ocean has enabled species of insects with strong flight ability to proliferate under different circumstances. Furthermore, Dadan Island is approximately 12,000 meters away from the Kinmen Island and only 4,400 meters from Xiamen of China. Its geological location is closer to the Zhangzhou port along the coast of Fujian Province. So Dadan Island contain some species of insects that are not found in the Lieyu Township and Kinmen Island.

After Dadan Island has been partially opened and handed over under the co-management of the Kinmen County Government and the Coast Guard Agency, people must apply before visit. Would fully opening tourism in the future cause any local ecological impacts? Teacher Zhang is optimistic that if the people conform to the fixed voyage time to get on and off the island during limited periods, tourism should not cause serious ecological harm to the local ecology. However, Teacher Zhang stressed that people must take their trash from the island as they leave in order to alleviate the severe local coast drifting garbage problems, and help to turn the one-time island tour experience into a blessing of sustainability for the land.