Taiwan Today

Increased awareness of environmentally friendly leisure invites a wider demographic to national parks.
 

In 2022 the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) celebrated the 50th ­anniversary of the National Park Law, which was promulgated in 1972 to set aside space to protect the ­country’s natural environments, ­wildlife habitats and historic sites for public ­recreation and scientific research. A year later the National Park Service (NPS) was elevated from its previous status as a unit under the MOI’s construction planning agency and charged with the management of national parks around the country at ­scenic spots such as Kenting, Taijiang and Yangmingshan, along with the marine national parks of South Penghu and Dongsha Atoll. The NPS is also responsible for Shoushan National Nature Park in Kaohsiung City, as well as sites covered by the Wetland Conservation Act of 2013 and Coastal Zone Management Act of 2015.

The NPS oversees locations that range across Taiwan’s 36,000-square-kilometer landmass and welcome 19.7 million visitors annually. “The diverse environments, from alpine regions to coastal and marine areas, boast rich ­ecotourism resources and are key to the country’s sustainable development,” NPS Director General Wang Cheng-gi (王成機) said, emphasizing work to publicize ­national parks at home and abroad. Yushan National Park, named for the country’s highest mountain contained within its ­borders, is the largest of the ­assets. Yushan, Shei-Pa and Taroko contain nearly 60 ­percent of Taiwan’s peaks over 3,000 meters. Each year around 250,000 ­visitors apply for ­permits to ­access protected areas of the three parks, ­demonstrating the strong appeal of ­rugged mountains and sweeping views. In 2025 the NPS expanded a centralized mountain permit mobile app featuring emergency signal broadcasting, offline maps and ­real-time condition updates from Shei-Pa to include both Yushan and Taroko national parks.

The mountainous areas are home to world-class trekking and climbing in a biodiverse terrain that offers a fascinating journey from a tropical to snowy alpine climate. Since 2019 the NPS has worked to build or refurbish cabins and hiking trails to strike a balance between conservation targets and responsible enjoyment of Taiwan’s natural wonders as part of the government’s move to lift restrictions on public access to mountain and forest ­areas. Wang noted that the NPS currently operates around 40 mountain huts, most of which have been furnished with solar panels and generators.

Active Engagement

The NPS has a slate of events planned for 2026 including marathons expected to draw runners from around the world, as well as an international forum for travel agencies ­focused on low-carbon tourism. “We’ll lead agency representatives along several routes we’ve arranged in the mountains, wetlands, coasts and marine environments,” Wang said. “We anticipate seeing a bump in tourism at those sites as travel agents spread the word.” A similar ongoing domestic program invites ­government officials and academics, as well as local tourism development group representatives and travel ­agencies, to help select 10 routes in and near ­national parks. One itinerary is a two-day trip by electric bike through scenic spots, hiking trails and Indigenous Bunun ­communities in the Nanan area of Yushan in Hualien County.

Close engagement with local communities is crucial to the management of national park tourism. The NPS environmental interpretation projects at parks like Yushan and Yangmingshan ­include courses to qualify local residents as ­community guides, leveraging their ­cultural and ­historical connections with landscape, wildlife and plants in the area. “They can help fold knowledge of conservation and environmental ethics into leisure activities,” Wang said. “It’s a natural way for visitors to become part of a broader ­campaign for ecological sustainability.”

The training of community tour guides from 2022 to 2023 was at the core of the ongoing ecotour project in Ankang, a community in New Taipei City’s Sanzhi District. According to Hsu Tzu-chi (徐子麒), chief of Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters’ Recreation Service Section, the project came about through linking the section with the Ankang community development ­association. The initiative began in 2020 with field surveys of local flora and fauna, ­characteristic landscapes and over two ­centuries of settlement stories from the Hakka ­community of around 210 ­households. In 2024 more than 80 people joined nine one-day trips to Ankang to hike along a 2.4-kilometer historical trail ending at a refreshing ­waterfall, taste ­specialty dishes, explore heritage buildings and savor the ­hands-on experience of ­traditional ­agriculture and crafts using locally acquired materials like native dye plants and bamboo.
 

For Hsu the tour package reflected decadeslong public-private cooperation in community regeneration and regional revitalization. “It was also intended to attract young people to move back to Ankang,” he said. After a temporary halt due to Typhoon Krathon’s destructive landfall in October 2024, the program’s return later this year will be aided by a more frequent bus service. Eastern Taiwan’s Taroko National Park, which was dealt its own natural disaster in the form of a devastating earthquake in April 2024, has seen similar ecotour arrangements in collaboration with Indigenous Truku communities since October 2025.

Reaching Out

Kenting National Park, the first ­national park established in Taiwan in 1982, launched an eco-friendly agriculture promotion program in 2019. The park committed to providing local farmers with subsidies for biological pest control as well as organic and traceable certification. In Tainan City’s Taijiang National Park a similar move to incorporate ­conservation into economic activities is taking place as a result of the popularity of Sicao Wetlands and Zengwen Estuary Wetlands with birders keen on seeing black-faced spoonbills throughout the winter. The park has signed agreements with owners of nearby commercial fishing ponds to cultivate foraging habitats for the ­endangered birds.
 

Wang noted that outlying islands also benefit from sensitive use of ­existing ­resources. On Dongjiyu, one of four South Penghu Marine National Park ­islands, the park administration has helped ­refurbish and convert several ­private vacant buildings into homestays. “We adopted a similar approach as at Kinmen National Park, where dozens of old ­buildings and heritage structures were turned into homestays or repurposed for public use,” he said, adding that a popular summer boat trip departs from Tainan to the Penghu Islands, which are part of the Columnar Basalt Nature Reserve.

Cultural and natural beauty in Taiwan’s national parks has won international recognition. Yangmingshan was awarded the world’s first Urban Quiet Park status in 2020 by Quiet Parks International. The quiet certification was also granted to wilderness parks and trails including the Cueifong Lake Circular Trail in Yilan County, the largest high altitude lake in Taiwan. The NPS is committed to striking a sustainable balance between conservation and leisure use by closely monitoring environmental changes and tourist facility uptake, a task now augmented by remote sensing techniques and drone surveys. “The national parks are a window into Taiwan’s ecology, and its health is visible both to our own local visitors and those from across the world,” Wang said.

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw