Earthquake and Ecotourism in Taiwan: A Perspective Viewpoint - Essay Example

EARTHQUAKE AND ECOTOURISM IN TAIWAN - A PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT General introduction of Taiwan Taiwan is a part of Republic of China (ROC) and is an island lying 160kms off the south-eastern coast of China, 394 km long and 144 km wide comprising of massive rugged mountains (about 70%) with more than 100 peaks of over 3000m; Jade Mountain in Taiwan is the highest in Northeast Asia with an elevation of 3952m. Topographically Taiwan lies on the Tropic of cancer enjoying oceanic and subtropical monsoonal climate. While the north has subtropical climate and south has tropical. The north-easterly monsoon brings rains in winter in northern and eastern parts of the island and the south-easterly monsoon brings heavy rains in central and southern parts of the island. The average annual rainfall being 2600mm and average monthly temperatures range from 15 C in winter to 20 C in summer. Taiwan also boasts of four major botanical communities: tropical, subtropical, temperate and alpine with about 4300 species of vascular plants, 18000 fauna species and of course wide range of wild animals (E-shu Tsao 2005: 215, Chapter 25) "Human life is fleeting, but cypress is forever." Two of the six famous false cypress that survive in the world can be found in Taiwan, namely Taiwan red cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis) and the Taiwan yellow cypress (Chamaecyparis obtuse) located at altitudes between 1300 meters to 2600 meters, these areas have greatest precipitation and also serve as a source of water for over 100 rivers (Chang Chin-ju. Sinorama Magazine 2005). False cypress wood is light and easy to work; it is flexible, rot proof and termite resistant. It rarely warps, and hardly shrinks; it planes to a smooth, fine surface. It's so versatile: boats, bridges, carriages, cabinets or coffins-there's not one it's not suitable for. In short, of all Taiwan's commercial timbers, there's not another to match it. (Chang Chin-ju. Sinorama Magazine 2005) According to Wikipedia the encyclopaedia Agritourism is described as a "style of vacation in which hospitality is offered on farms." Agritourism further helps in development of entertainment farms thus offering regular farm products along with activities such as mazes, open-pen animals, train rides, picnic facilities and pick your own produce (2005). In Taiwan agritourism was started in 1980's to help farmers from recovering their falling incomes, rising costs and to withstand foreign competition. As a part of agritourism, tourist orchards and farms were developed to give the visitors a chance to pick vegetables and fruits of their choice. But this had its own impact and by mid 1990's agritourism developed against a few environmental protection laws. Efforts are being made to make Agritourism a part of Ecotourism (National Policy Foundation commentary on Ecotourism 2002). Ecotourism and Ecotourists According to Chang-Hung (Teresa) Tao, Paul F.J. Eagles and Stephen L.J. Smith there have been two driving forces for ecotourism, with the first being increasing interest in nature and natural environment and the second being growing concern over negative impacts of uncontrolled tourism development. "Ecotourism, properly operated and managed, balances both nature conservation and the needs of tourism development." A good understanding of the needs and attitudes of ecotourists travelling in protected areas would help develop management plans and strategies, which could contribute in establishing positive interaction among resource managers, tour operators, local residents and visitors, thus encouraging the effective management of protected areas (2004:1) According to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Ecotourism is defined as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." In addition people implementing and participating in ecotourism activities should follow the principles such as: Minimize impact Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts Provide direct financial benefits for conservation Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people Raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate Support international human rights and labour agreements (2004). Ecotourists are defined as "Anyone travelling with the primary motivation of enjoying and experiencing nature in a relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural area and undertaking at least one ecotourism experience during their trip can be considered an ecotourist" (Blamey 1995; Burger et al., 1995 cited in Tao, Eagles and Smith 2005:4). Earthquake and the havoc Yao T. Hsu and Chung C. Fu stated that a catastrophic earthquake struck central Taiwan on September 21st, 1999, Tuesday at 01:47 AM (local time) with an intensity of 7.3 on Richter scale, its epicentre was stated to be at the so called town Chi Chi, located at 23.85 N and 120.81 E at a depth of 7.0 km. The quake was stated to be related to two closely spaced faults namely the Chelungpu and the Shuangtung faults which are 10km apart and nearly parallel, at the intersection of which lies the hypocenter of the town Chi Chi. The quake was the result of reversive fault movement at the subduction zone boundary of Euroasian and Philippino plates. The quake was stated to be strongest to hit Taiwan in the past 100 years. The official statistics read as follows 2,161 casualties, 8736 injuries and a loss of $3.7 billion property (2005). Mu-Chang Shieh stated that the earthquake caused widespread landslides since the epicentre was very close to a mountain area. A total of 16 places recorded individual landslides, with areas exceeding 10 hectares (10,000m2). Biggest landslide was at Tsaoling lake in an approximately 700 hectares area blocking the stream and forming a new lake. Kuan Hwa Island located in the middle of Sun-Moon Lake was flattened. Thus the effect on ecosystem can be imagined. Some species of flora and fauna might have been totally wiped out. Due to soil liquefaction heavy damage was caused to the bank of Tai-Chung Harbour (Dated Nil). Nature's recovery from earthquake Chi-Ming Yang, Jan-Chang Chen, Lan-Lin Peng, Jr-Syu Yang and Chang-Hung Chou stated that various studies were carried out using satellite remote sensing data to monitor changes in vegetation. Various aspects such as photosynthesis of terrestrial plants, changes of canopy structure and density, re-growth rate of biomass production of the forest, immediate damage caused by the earthquake on the forest and the recovery of earthquake caused landslide area have been studied, but as of now no report is available using satellite images to monitor the ecological recovery process in a landslide area after a disastrous earthquake. The grey system theory was used to study and predict the vegetation recovery rate. According to a study original vegetation of Chiu-Feng-Er mountain area was almost totally destroyed as evidenced from satellite data available from October 10, 1999 with only 2.47% remaining out of a total 44,917 m2. The vegetation rapidly increased to 333,480 m2 on July 25, 2000 i.e., an approximate recovery of 22.4 percent (2001) Sustainable Development - How to achieve it in Taiwan According to Wikipedia the encyclopaedia sustainable development is described as "a process of developing (land, cities, business, communities, etc) that 'meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'." One of the important aspects is to overcome environmental degradation (2005). According to Green vitality: Taiwan's sustainable development, outstanding economy and open democratic society in China are result of constant pursuance of sustainable development in Taiwan, but Taiwan still faces many challenges to achieve sustainable development some of them are as follows: 1. "Unique Island Ecosystem:" The ecosystem of Taiwan being unique and fragile with diverse forms of flora and fauna has had to bear the brunt of rapid development. 2. "Heavy Environmental Loadings:" Taiwan ranks highest in density of population, number of vehicles, number of factories and highest primary energy consumers, thus causing a heavy load on Taiwan's environment. In addition there is no facility to treat municipal wastes, industrial wastes and wastewater in Taiwan. 3. "Limited Natural Resources:" In view of all above factors there is an imbalance of natural resources like water thus leading to depletion of ground water levels. 4. "High Frequency of Natural Disasters:" location of Taiwan on the eastern edge of the Asian Continental shelf and the complex nature of geology in this region makes it more vulnerable to natural calamities like flooding, earthquakes and typhoons. 5. "Roles in Global Economy:" With the changing global business environments becoming increasingly complex, the local businesses and resource consumption patterns tend to change, since Taiwan being an active participant relies heavily on international trading. It is clear from above that Taiwan is in the midst of potential imbalance with overall economic development and environmental protection. Timely remedial measures could remove this imbalance and could also be a turning point in improving Taiwan's sustainability. Hence a careful review of issues concerning integration between economic development and environmental protection with focus on integrated value of social development could lead to a blueprint of sustainable development for Taiwan (Dated - Nil). China's Commitment According to Green vitality, Republic of China in compliance to the Rio Environment and Development Declaration and agenda 21 signed at Earth Summit held in June 1992, Rio, Brazil is committed to respond and achieve the goal by reflecting integrated environmental quality and environmental ability thus becoming new indicators for national competitiveness. As a member of the global village, Taiwan will endeavour to participate in international activities, keep regional peace, promote cooperation and thus enjoy prosperity. In order to achieve the four goals of sustainable development in sustainable ecosystem, comfortable environment, safe society, and open economy, Taiwan will base its plan on the environmental characteristics and proceed with integrated planning and implementation to meet the goal of integrating economic development, social creativity, and environmental protection. Republic of China government follows Agenda 21 guidelines for the National Sustainable Development Strategy and the basic principles and visions of sustainable development, thus reflecting global trends of modern era ( Dated-Nil). China's economy - Contribution of tourism industry According to E-Shu Tsao, there was a rapid development in economy of ROC during 1952 to 1997 with annual growth averaging to 8.5% and the per capita GNP soaring from US$ 196 to US$ 13,198 occupying 25th place and a GNP of US$ 284.8 billion accounting to approximately 1% of global GNP, thus ranking 18th in the world. The information industry has developed at an enormous rate ranking third in the world. The tourism bureau established an administration responsible for management of national scenic areas, this management operates with sustainable development as its objective on the principal of equal emphasis on the conservation and development of tourism resources, with a key task to develop diversified tour itineraries with a native culture and maintain ecologically-healthy environment. At the central level the Tourism Bureau operates under Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Ministry of Interior is involved in management and development of tourism resources. Tourism is making an important contribution to economic development in the developing economies by boasting foreign currency earnings and generating new employment opportunities. Tourism utilises environmental features, such as natural resources, historical and cultural properties to attract tourists. Thus promotion and development of these features would naturally boast tourism. Hence ecotourism is the only way to resolve the conflict between tourism development and environmental conservation. The current policies for tourism industry development are: (i) Development of international tourism on the foundation of domestic tourism; (ii) The use of Chinese cultural features in the promotion of inter- national tourism (with the major events including the Taipei Lantern Festival, Taipei Chinese Food Festival, Hsiukuluan River rafting and Kayak racing); (iii) Promotion of outdoor recreation activities for citizens; (iv) Placing emphasis on both conservation and utilisation of tourism resources, and encouraging private investment in leisure facilities and travel services; (v) Intensifying international tourism publicity and promotion; and (vi) Managing safety for travellers. The Legislative Yuan included a clause for green procurement in the Government Procurement Act, according to which during the government procurement bids products bearing Taiwan's eco label should be given priority and enjoy a price advantage within 10%. In order to maintain sustainable tourism links must be established between tourism and environment as well as other social and economic sectors. This presents a challenge since mature and emerging tourism destinations grapple to maintain an optimal balance between the economic gains from tourism and impact of tourism on social, cultural and natural environments (2000). Promotion of Ecotourism According to David Hsu in order to promote ecotourism the Tourism Bureau of The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has figured out the following six strategies and 31 steps: 1. Draw up ecotourism policies and management systems that include an ecotourism white paper, and ecotourism guidelines, plus draft sustainable environmental monitoring systems and regulate the qualification & management policies for ecotourism guides. 2. Build up an ecotourism environment, which includes the establishment of ecotourism service facilities, selection of ecotourism spots, ecotourism guidance, and to elaborate an evaluation or accreditation of ecotour programs. 3. Strengthen ecotourism education and training to prepare ecotourism courses in elementary and middle school programs. This also includes ecotourism training for foreign language ecotourism guides and ecotourism symposiums. 4. Implement a series of ecotourism promotions. 5. Carry out a series of ecotourism activities such as ecotourism exhibitions, village tours, youth ecotourism camps, ancient/historical monuments and aboriginal cultural tours, as well as participation of a conference for international ecotourism year. 6. Promote ecotourism on a regular basis. In order to boost ecotourism, The China Post will publish articles concerning ecotourism, Taiwan's whales and dolphins, geological views of Northeast Coast of Taiwan, mountains on Taiwan, bird views of Taiwan and Taiwan's butterflies in the ensuing six months in its travel page (2002). Policies to develop ecotourism According to His-Lin Liu a range of policies are adopted to develop tourism and ecotourism. International tourism is proposed to be developed and promoted on the grounds of domestic tourism by using Chinese cultural features. Interpretation facilities are being provided by national scenic area administration by training interpreters, editing information in other languages, setting up exhibitions in service centre and raising public awareness of conservation issues. On the other hand Taiwanese central government has taken the following measures to protect the environment: (i) Habitat preservation; (ii) Forest resource conservation; (iii) Protection of endangered species; and (iv) International participation. As regards the National Park systems all over the world, the department of National Parks also operates under the following dual purposes: (i) Protecting the natural and cultural resources of the nation; and (ii) Providing quality recreational opportunities for the citizens of Taiwan. More specifically, the goals of the National Park system include: (a) The protection of ecologically significant areas (b) The conservation of gene pools; (c) The provision of nature-related recreational opportunities; (d) The promotion of scientific research and environmental education; and (e) The stimulation of regional economic growth through compatible tourism development. Taiwan's six national parks namely Kenting, Yushan, Yangminshan, Taroko, Shei-Pa and Kinmen are maintained by the Ministry of Interior (2000). In addition Tao, Eagles and Smith stated that Taiwanese government created 19 nature reserves, 14 wildlife refuges and nine national forest natural conservation (preservation) areas covering 433,861 hectares (2004:2). Taomi community - a Classic example of recovery from earthquake According to Cheryl Robbins, today ecotourism is the buzzword; Taiwan is no exception as is demonstrated by Taomi community in Nantou County's Puli town. The local guides lead the adventurous ecotourists. The natural beauty of place includes lush vegetation, bamboo forests, wetlands, rolling hills, waterfalls and crystal-clear rivers. The Chi-Chi earthquake resulted in collapse of about 60% of the community's buildings; the community faced a threat to their livelihood with the entry of Taiwan into the WTO and subsequent import of cheap agricultural products. The community thus turned to New Homeland Foundation (organisation) for advice. With the help of local university professors several local farmers learnt about natural resources and ecosystems of the area and are called certified ecotour guides. Their aim is to relate the concepts of ecology, ecosystems and living in harmony with nature. In order to protect the tranquillity and natural surroundings, a restriction is imposed by the community on the number of tours. The Taomi community has travelled a long way in rebuilding and reinventing itself. The community received financial assistance from government and professional help from the New Homeland Foundation and academicians. Motivation of the community has led to the successful transformation of Taomi into a thriving eco-village (2003). According to Cecilia Fanchiang, similar integrated community development cases are present all over Taiwan some more examples are that of the Yungle community in Changhua County, Tamsui's Puting community and the Tona community was picked by the Kaoshiung County government for developing a centre of aboriginal tribal arts (2002). Vision of tourism bureau His-Lin Liu stated that the tourism bureau sketched three visions for development of Taiwan's tourism industry to serve as future directions of development: 1. Development of three-dimensional tourism encompassing land, sea and air so as to draw a new map for Taiwan tourism: 2. Creation of an excellent environment for tourism investment in order to develop sustainable tourism; and 3. Utilisation of network technology in the overall upgrading of tourism marketing and services (2000). Policies and Future Plans of Taiwanese Government According to Taiwan 2005 YearBook issued by Government Information Office, in an effort to upgrade Taiwan's tourism industry which is an integral contributor to its economy the Executive Yuan preponed the project Visit Taiwan year from 2005 to 2004. The aim of the project is to double the tourists and have five million visitors per year, as a part of the Challenge 2008 National Development Plan. In the year 2004 Taiwan experienced a rise in the number of tourists from South Korea, Malaysia, Europe, USA, Australia and Japan, but there was drop in the number of tourists from Japan, Hong Kong and Macau. Some of the measures to attract the tourists included issue of free tickets and shopping coupons on arrival, offering information on hotline in English, Mandarin and Japanese, tax exemptions and offering of 5 percent tax exemption to international tourists spending more than US $ 100 by some departmental stores. Following five strategies were proposed to attract the targeted five million tourists annually by the government: 1. Reorganisation of existing tour itineraries. 2. Development of new tour packages and new destinations. 3. Establishment of a tourist service network. 4. Launch of an international tourism promotion campaign; and 5. Development of Taiwan's MICE industry. Sustainability of Environment In order to protect ecology, ensure sustainability of environment and promote environmental products the Chinese government has implemented a number steps such as elimination of convenient but non-recyclable products from daily life. Strict enforcement of laws along with awareness campaign for sustainable development and education of masses has inculcated a positive attitude towards environment protection and nature conservation. To promote recycling and reduce the quantity of household waste a new policy was introduced in January 2005, making it compulsory for residents of ten counties and cities to properly segregate the waste in three categories and to enforce mature conservation regulations a special police task force was set up in July 2004. Soil and Water Conservation Executive Yuan created a blueprint of National Land Planning Act in June 2004 and also setup a monitoring and alert system for mudslide-prone areas. The act is aimed to ensure sustainable land development by restructuring the national land use planning system. A National Land Restoration Act is also being drafted to alleviate reforestation and retard development in ecologically fragile high altitude areas. The Soil and Water Conservation Bureau (SWCB) under Council of Agriculture implemented the third phase of the Mountain Conservation and Disaster Prevention Plan in 2004 with 918 construction projects to prevent landslides and flooding. Comprehensive projects in 16 catchment areas with 201 slope stabilization and land conservation projects in the heavily populated Keelung River in northern Taiwan had been completed to the end of 2004 in an effort to improve and integrate water catchment facilities. In an effort to prevent landslides SWCB launched 266 projects between August 01, 2004 and July 31, 2005. It also conducted planning and surveys for six water catchment areas, initiated 56 soil and water conservation projects in slope land residential areas carried out works on 199 collapsed landslide-prone areas. Air Quality The revised Air Pollution Control Act of June 2002 originally enacted in 1975 "empowers the government at various levels to establish air quality standards for different areas across Taiwan and monitoring stations at appropriate sites." Taiwan Area Air Quality Monitoring Network comprising of 74 stationary automatic air quality monitoring stations, two mobile monitoring stations and one air quality assurance laboratory is currently involved in monitoring the Air Quality. Three monitoring networks consisting of eight new Photochemical Assessable Monitoring Stations (PAMS) in northern, central and southern Taiwan to monitor ozone precursors are deployed to collect valuable monitoring data and benefit atmospheric science and human health risk assessment research. Stringent emission standards for industrial plants and motor vehicles, promotion of low-pollution transport vehicles, strict composition ratios of petroleum products, increased inspection of construction sites and road cleaning are some of the measures to improve air quality. Air Pollution Control (APC) fee on both stationary sources such as factories and construction sites, and mobile sources such as motor vehicles is levied by Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). The APC fee also covers pollutants such as suspended particulates, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and hydrocarbons. As a result of levying APC the sulphur dioxide concentration levels have fallen to by 58 percent in 2003 relative to that in 1994. "The EPA expects to lower the average figure for all of Taiwan to 2 percent by 2006 and 1.5 percent by 2011." The funds generated though collection of APC fee system are "allocated to a variety of air pollution control programs, including inspection, enforcement, air quality measurements, the promotion of clean energy resources, subsidies and incentives for the reduction of pollutants and international environmental efforts related to air pollution." Water Resources and Water Pollution Control Act Domestic sewage and Industrial effluents are the major pollutants of Taiwan's water resources comprising of 118 rivers. In addition to the Water Pollution Control Act and Management Regulations of Industrial Waste Water Pollution Control the government promulgated 36 items of relevant regulations in July 2003 in order to ensure collection of fees to prevent waste water pollution, industrial water pollution and domestic sewage water pollution. Solid Waste Disposal According to the Waste Disposal Act 2002, the usage of plastic shopping bags, disposable plastic tableware at food service outlets in government buildings, schools, factories and military establishments was restricted from July 1, 2002 and from January 2003 departmental stores, shopping centres, membership warehouses, supermarkets, convenience stores, food outlets and fast food restaurants were also brought under the purview of the act. As per the new policy household waste is to be segregated into three categories namely: recyclable, food leftovers and general waste and violators will be fined. Industrial Waste Management Tracking the industrial waste disposal is key to effective management and enforcement. The sources of industrial wastes are factories, farming activities, hospitals, and other business organizations. In the process EPA has taken steps to track the routes of individual waste disposal vehicles by using Global Positioning System (GPS). Finally the government has reserved about 19.5 of the land area which is a part of multitiered protected area that consists of six national parks, 19 nature reserves, 9 forest reserves, 16 wild life refuges and 30 major wildlife habitats (2005). Concluding Remarks After much of discussion regarding various topics ranging from ecology, ecosystems, sustainable development, ecotourism, earthquake and its impact and of course recovery of Taiwan from the Catastrophic disaster still most of the acts or regulations appear good on paper with the targets fixed in 2005-2008, have the targets been achieved and are they realistic People did play an important role in reconstruction, nature too played its role by recovering from the shock of earthquake, drastic recovery can be clearly seen from satellite data by the recovery of vegetation from a mere 2.47% to 22.47% in just one year. The reconstruction and sustainable ecotourism is possible only by serious thought and strict implementation of all the policies and regulations not just by the resident population but also by the ecotourists. Conservation of environment and protection of ecosystem is the responsibility of each and every individual in this land gifted to mankind by mother earth and nature. Let us thank and respect the nature in its truest form in Taiwan and bow in reverence to mother earth. Bibliography Agritourism from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. (2005). Available on [December 27, 2005] Cecilia Fanchiang. Government Targets Community Development. 2002. Available on [January 01, 2006] Chang Chin-ju translated by Robert Taylor. Ancient Giants of the Forest-Taiwan's False Cypresses. Sinorama Magazine. Available on [December 28, 2005] Chang-Hung (Teresa) Tao, Paul F.J.Eagles and Stephen L.J. Smith. Profiling Taiwanese Ecotourists using a Self-Definition Approach. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol.12, No. 2. 2004. Available on [January 06, 2006] Cheryl Robbins. Reconstruction through Ecotourism At Taomi Ecovillage Compass. January 2003. Taichung City Magazine. Available on [December 31, 2005] Chi-Ming Yang,Jan-Chang Chen,Lan-Lin Peng,Jr-Syu Yang and Chang-Hung Chou. Chi-Chi Earthquake-caused Landslide: grey prediction model for pioneer vegetation recovery monitored by satellite images. August 2001. Available on < http://ejournal.sinica.edu.tw/bbas/content/2002/1/bot431-08.pdf> [December 31, 2005] David Hsu. 2002 declared the Year of Ecotourism in Taiwan. The China Post. May 24, 2002. Available on [January 02, 2006] Definition and Ecotourism Principles. The International Ecotourism Society - what is ecotourism 2004. [December 27, 2005] Environmental Protection. Taiwan 2005 YearBook. Government Information Office. Available on [January 07, 2006] E-shu Tsao. Ecotourism in Taiwan: Green Island. Linking Green Productivity to Ecotourism: Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region. Asian Productivity Organization: 215, Chapter 25. ISBN 92-833-2299-1. (2000). Available on [December 30, 2005] Green vitality: Taiwan's sustainable development < http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/eco/eco3_a2.htm> [December 31, 2005] His-Lin Liu. Ecotourism in Taiwan: Whale Watching. Linking Green Productivity to Ecotourism: Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region. Asian Productivity Organization: 215, Chapter 26. ISBN 92-833-2299-1. (2000). Available on < http://www.apo-tokyo.org/gp/e_publi/gplinkeco/28chapter26.pdf> [December 30, 2005] Sustainable development from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. (2005) Available on [December 27, 2005] National Policy Foundation (NPF) Commentary on Ecotourism dated June 14, 2002. Available on [December 28, 2005] Yao T. Hsu and Chung C. Fu. Study of Damaged Wushi Bridge in Taiwan 921 Earthquake. University of Maryland, College Park. Available on < http://best.umd.edu/publications/paper01.pdf> [December 28, 2005] Mu-Chang Shieh. 921 TAIWAN EARTHQUAKE & SAFETY EFFECTS ON NPP. Available on [December 30, 2005] Tourism. 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