By: Hana and Arthur
Oceans: Protecting Coral Reefs
Taiwan is a beautiful, luscious island, and during our three-week road trip around Taiwan, we were able to experience the diversity of nature by traveling from the mountains to the sea. We observed and appreciated Taiwan’s rich biodiversity while enriching our cultural and political understanding of the nation, as luscious green dense forests, rich agriculture valleys, and an ocean that momentarily melted our worries about midterms. The ocean contains just as remarkable an ecosystem as the island itself. To the west of Taiwan lay the Sea of China, the more acidic, calmer, and shallower sea. To the east is the Pacific Ocean, the world’s deepest, most hazardous, and largest ocean. Its depth, however, isn’t immune to climate change.
Hidden in Southern Taiwan is Kenting National Park, the oldest national park dating back to 1984. We were fortunate enough to visit Kenting National Park for a few days on our trip. The white sand beaches, crystal blue waters, and egg-shaped mountains led us to debate what sci-fi adventure film we were in (we were split between the Incredibles and Jurassic Park). Along with a relaxing day at the beach, we had the opportunity to go scuba diving and visit some beautiful coral reefs. Although we saw some beautiful corals and aquatic life, we were concerned when we observed that some corals had lost their color and were bleached white. Bleached corals are a direct effect of climate change on the ocean. According to an abundance of scientific research and accredited sources such as UNESCO, our oceans have entered an acidification era due to the large emission of carbon dioxide gas. The ocean absorbs around 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, and as a result, the ocean’s acidity has increased by 26% since the beginning of the industrial era. This threatens the lives of coral reefs and aquatic life. Bleached corals aren’t exactly dead corals. They’ve temporarily rejected their roommates, the zooxanthellae algae, and although there is a possibility for their symbiotic relationship to continue, it puts coral reefs under stress and mortality. This is why it’s important for humans who have caused this damage to protect and work to reverse the residual damages of the industrial revolution, even if it means limiting the number of tourists who visit the oceans.
Image 1: Coral Reef Health and Locations across Taiwan.
This map illustrated in Image 1 is from the Taipei Times and shares that the health of coral life around Taiwan is considered dangerous. The article pushed for heavier governmental regulations around protecting coral reefs and more focused efforts to reverse the damage done. Earlier in the trip, we visited the Chaojing Intelligent Ocean (Intelligent Ocean, iOCEAN for short), one of the National Ocean Science and Technology Museum venues in Chaojing Bay in northern Taiwan. There, we observed scientists’ efforts to preserve and understand the coral and efforts to regrow coral that have been lost to climate change.
Image 2: Scuba diving in Kenting National Park, clown fish living in an anemone.
Taiwan is certainly not shying away from this responsibility. The determination for ocean protection can be seen in Taiwan through government protection agencies such as the national park programs with nine national parks and three national parks that work to protect marine life. Scientists, volunteers, and federal park workers are critical to protecting ecosystems and species.
The College of Marine Science at Dong Hwa University is one of those forces working to protect the environment and advocate for sustainable development. Their close cooperation with the local indigenous tribe works to protect indigenous rights and conceive of sustainable land growth with a focus on ecotourism. It caused me to pause and reflect: have I been an eco-friendly tourist? As I thought through the ways a person can be an eco-friendly tourist through respecting nature, such as being aware of your footprint and, in our case, not touching the coral reef when scuba diving, I realized that an individual can only do so much. I’m glad to see this question and agenda set by academia with a partnership with indigenous tribes where it’s in a position to be advanced to the government and taken action. As I said, an individual can only do so much; it’s up to the structures in place to nudge individuals toward being ecotourists. It’s inspiring to see a country positioned to protect its natural resources and its environment and a country that is putting effort towards making sure that keeps happening. Unlike the West, Taiwan’s east side is much more rural and undeveloped. It has an opportunity to grow in a way that can protect ecosystems and honor the indigenous people while shaping future travelers and residents to be more environmentally friendly. I look forward to seeing the future of Taiwan’s success and hope to be back soon.
National Parks and Forests: The Influence of Indigenous Communties on the Environment
We started our road trip by heading to Nantou on our drive, where I noticed several giant wind turbines. These turbines were scattered throughout the island, which piqued my interest as I’d never seen so many wind turbines! A quick Google search revealed that Taiwan is pushing wind energy efforts to transition from nuclear energy by 2025 and focus more on renewable energy sources. Wind is an excellent option for Taiwan, mainly because this area experiences monsoons. As of 2016, renewable energy in Taiwan was only 5%, and the current goal is to reach 20% by 2025. If this goal is met, Taiwan would be the fastest to achieve such a target and be the world’s third-largest offshore wind power country. Although we visited several museums, no one really spoke about the wind turbines. Upon research, it is excellent to see Taiwan taking the initiative and implementing ambitious and immediate changes to help address climate change. Although focusing on wind energy is important, using offshore turbines comes at a cost, as it can impact marine life by creating noise and disturbing habitats. These are some essential considerations Taiwan has taken towards addressing climate change and creating a more sustainable environment.
Image 3: Taroko Gorge National Park. This is us conquering the famous Zhuilu Old Trail, which was a five-hour hike at Taroko Gorge National Park. We woke up that day at 6am to go on this beautiful hike for our last day touring the island before returning to Fu Jen University. On the hike, we had a leader, Paulina, who explained to us that this hike and National Park are actually indigenous lands that the government is “borrowing”, connecting back to some of the issues mentioned in this post!
In Nantou, the Atayal people welcomed us with open arms and gave us a glimpse into their culture, traditions, values, and practices. We stayed with them for a week and attended Faxiang, a local elementary school. Indigenous groups worldwide are known for respecting their environment, which in turn protects the environment and the health of such communities. For food, local ingredients are used by engaging in farming. Further, when eating meat, the meat is hunted for and eaten in its entirety, reducing waste. These themes were brought up several times with other indigenous groups that we visited in Taiwan. From my conversations, it seems like many of the struggles within the indigenous communities stem from indigenous groups being removed from necessary conversations regarding land/ocean usage and conservation, which has lifelong impacts on the environment, health, and the indigenous culture. Several articles and first-hand conversations show that indigenous knowledge is essential and has allowed them to adapt to climate change, emphasizing the importance of involving them in the conversation!
Image 4: Hanging with the Taromak Tribe. This is a group photo with Lily, who is part of the Taromak Tribe! She showed us around their land and taught us how to identify important plants and how they are used in their day-to-day life! She also showed us how to make traditional fern adornment pieces. Lily is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Indigenous Nutrition.
Image 5: Here, Lily is explaining to us the history of the Taromak Tribe through the various colonial times as it is depicted through a beautiful mosaic that is displayed at their local elementary school.
Toward the end of our road trip, we visited National Dong Hwa University, where we had the opportunity to connect with the College of Environmental Studies/Oceanography and the College of Indigenous Studies. This visit was unique as we got to see how these two colleges work together to help address environmentally sustainable issues while working with indigenous groups to continue to build resilience and protect the transitions and practices of the indigenous people. One of the issues they mentioned was hunting rights. For indigenous groups, hunting is an important tradition and ritual. However, the Taiwanese government in the past has taken control over important indigenous land, which has impacted their hunting ability. This conversation made me realize how important it is to identify all stakeholders and the importance of having everyone’s voice be heard and involved. The Taiwanese government may push its own agenda with its land, such as building wind turbines, but it is important to respect and protect indigenous groups and be aware that their actions do have long-term impacts, especially for communities that are already disadvantaged. It was truly inspiring to see relationships built between academia, the government, and indigenous groups to address climate change and health concerns. Although much more work still needs to be done, I want to bring this relationship-building mindset back to the U.S. to help address the struggles in disadvantaged communities.
Image 6: National Museum of Prehistory. During our trip, we visited several museums, one of them being the National Museum of Prehistory. At the museum, we saw Taiwan’s Sustainable Development Goals, which were developed by the National Council for Sustainable Development (founded in 1997). Their ultimate goal is to produce net-zero emissions by 2050. This photo echoes the importance of interconnections between various stakeholders and the importance of indigenous knowledge in achieving these goals.
