Taiwan Today

On a October night in 2012, Wu Chia-hsiung (吳加雄) was exploring a patch of land at the foot of Xianjiyan, a small hill in the southern part of Taipei City, when he made a discovery that would permanently alter the future of the area. As he was wandering around in the darkness, the young entomologist spotted a group of fireflies hovering above a small pond. Fireflies are seldom found in cities and Wu, who specializes in studying the insects, was overjoyed to have come across an urban habitat of the blinking bugs. “I was absolutely stunned. It was such an exciting moment,” recalls the scholar, then a postdoctoral researcher at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei. However, this initial feeling of elation was immediately quashed by his knowledge of the development plans for the area.

The land, including the pond, was part of a larger plot that had been donated to a municipal elementary school by the Yuanlih Group, a local conglomerate known for its construction division. The school intended to use the land to build a new campus, and the construction plans called for the complete excavation of the firefly habitat. In the summer of 2012, as the development project neared final approval from Taipei City Government, Yuanlih asked Wu, his professor, Yang Ping-shih (楊平世), and four other NTU academics in the fields of botany, geology, hydrology and meteorology to inspect the area. Though the fireflies were a noteworthy discovery, this type of find is not typically enough to halt a large-scale construction project. However, the NTU team was determined to save the insects, and set about studying the ecology of the area. Ultimately, after more than a year of research and back-and-forth negotiations, the scientists convinced the city government to alter the construction plans and establish Yongjian Ecopark to protect the firefly habitat.

The small ecological park, which is located in the city’s Wenshan District and measures approximately 0.3 hectares, has drawn international attention to growing efforts to protect Taiwan’s rich biodiversity. In fact, the development of the park helped Taipei win the right to host the 2017 International Firefly Symposium. “This conservation story truly touched the hearts of participants, and definitely played a role in our successful bid to host the next event,” says Wu, who spearheaded the city’s campaign to stage the 2017 symposium at the previous edition at the University of Florida in Gainesville in the United States during August last year. First held in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2008 and then in Subang, Selangor in Malaysia in 2010, the symposium is a gathering of firefly scientists, artists and enthusiasts from around the world.

From an entomological perspective, Taipei is an ideal location for the event. The land now occupied by the city was once covered by a large lake. Over time, this body of water dried up and became swampland, revealing what is now known as the Taipei Basin. However, a few small pockets of natural wetlands remain, providing excellent habitats for fireflies. The research team is currently developing another urban haven for the insects in Daan Forest Park, which is in the center of the bustling metropolis. The team hopes to complete this project in time for the symposium in 2017.

Of course, Yongjian Ecopark, which is not currently open to the general public, will play a large role in the symposium. The park at the southern side of Xianjiyan was originally part of a larger plot of land owned by the Kuomintang. In 2005, the plot was sold to Yuanlih, which subsequently donated half of the land to Taipei Municipal Yongjian Elementary School. The school, which lends its name to the ecological park, had been seeking to move to a new location since the late 1990s due to the small size of its existing premises, and the land donated by Yuanlih will form approximately two-thirds of the total area of the new campus.

Planning for the project began in 2009, and the design for the new school and its grounds, which would have led to the destruction of the urban haven for the fireflies, received final approval from the city government in late 2012. Fortunately, by that point the NTU team had already begun investigating the ecology of the area to build a case for preserving the habitat. “Fireflies are very sensitive insects, and can be found only in relatively unspoiled environments,” Yang notes.

The NTU professor has a great deal of experience performing this type of research. In 1997, he was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to conduct a comprehensive survey of the firefly species in Taiwan’s national parks. This study was the largest of its kind since the period of Japanese colonial rule (1895–1945). In 2000, following the completion of the MOI project, Yang and several other local firefly experts began investigating other natural sites in Taiwan. Due to these efforts, the number of officially documented firefly species in the country has risen to nearly 70, up from 32 prior to 1997.

Worldwide, there are some 2,000 firefly species. Although they are classified as terrestrial, semi-aquatic or aquatic based on their natural environments in the larval stage, all firefly species are drawn to wetlands during adulthood, notes Wu, who now lectures at National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences. Five terrestrial and one aquatic species have been identified in Yongjian Ecopark. In total, 387 species, including the six types of fireflies and 312 other forms of insects, have been found in the park. “The biodiversity in this small area is amazingly high,” Yang says. “It’s like a refuge for various species escaping from nearby development projects.”

In May 2014, after talks with the scientists, senior city government officials agreed to support their petition to alter the construction plans and establish a permanent ecological park. “The backing of senior officials was crucial as it’s not easy to adjust large-scale development plans that have already been approved by various local government bureaus,” explains Lin Chi-shen (林其賢), principal of Yongjian Elementary School. Construction work on the new campus began at the end of last year and is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

Efforts were also undertaken to improve the environment of the ecological park prior to the start of the building work. Under the guidance of the research team, three ponds and a 300-meter stream were added to the area to optimize the firefly habitat and provide a haven for species fleeing the construction work. This work was funded by the Yuanlih Group, which Lin praises as an enterprise with a high level of environmental consciousness.

The academics are also working to raise public awareness of the sanctuary. “We want to involve local communities in the project so they feel concerned about protecting the area,” Yang says. To this end, the team has organized a host of activities to allow local residents and students to explore the park’s biodiversity. For instance, the NTU scientists have been growing firefly larvae in their labs to replenish the number of the insects in the park, and have enlisted the help of local grade school students to release the young bugs. Around 200 adult fireflies can now be seen in the ecological park when the insects are most active in April, May and October, Wu notes.

In addition, since early last year the scholars have been organizing free courses on issues related to Yongjian Ecopark as well as ecological protection in general. The classes are primarily aimed at teachers from Yongjian and two other nearby elementary schools as well as volunteers from nongovernmental environmental organizations based in the area. Held two to three times per month, the courses are taught by members of the research team as well as other qualified individuals, such as documentarian Mai Jue-ming (麥覺明), who is known for his films on Taiwan’s ecology and history. “Our school will be the biggest beneficiary of the team’s efforts as this park will be a great open-air classroom for environmental education,” Lin says.

At present, Yongjian Ecopark is off-limits to the general public as reaching it requires passing through the building site for the new campus. Once construction is finished, residents and tourists may be able to gain access to it, though entry is likely to be regulated. “Nowadays, schools are encouraged to open their campuses to the community, but environmental protection will always be our top concern when it comes to the park,” Lin says. Yet despite the fact that relatively few people have visited the area, the project has already had a noticeable effect on local residents. “The site may be small in size,” the principal notes, “but it’s already had a huge impact on the ecological consciousness of the communities in the area.”

Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw