National Parks

30-second overview: Taiwan has only 36,197 square kilometers of land, yet it contains 9 national parks, placing it among the highest-density systems in the world.
Within this most crowded conservation system, Taiwan's black bear population doubled within 20 years, black-faced spoonbills increased from 288 to 6,988 individuals,
and Formosan landlocked salmon surged from an endangered 200 fish to 16,000. A small island, large-scale conservation.

How can an island smaller than Switzerland fit 9 national parks? In 1984, when Kenting National Park became Taiwan's first formally established national park (planning was announced in 1982), no one imagined that this would mark the beginning of a density experiment.¹ Forty-two years later, Taiwan has 9 national parks and 1 national nature park across 36,197 square kilometers of land, protecting 750,000 hectares. This density ranks among the highest in the world's national park systems.

In Taiwan, where population density reaches 640 people per square kilometer, large wildlife and rare fish have nevertheless managed to survive, and even continue recovering, within such limited space. This most crowded conservation system has delivered results that surprised the global conservation community.

The Density Experiment: How Taiwan Became an Island of National Parks

The 42-year expansion history of Taiwan's national park map:

1. 1984-1986 — The first three giants: Kenting, Yushan, Yangmingshan
2. 1987-1995 — Mountains and seas filled in: Taroko, Shei-Pa
3. 1995-2014 — A turn toward diversity: Kinmen (battlefield historic sites), Dongsha Atoll (entirely marine), Taijiang (wetlands), South Penghu Marine (basalt)
4. 2011 — An urban oasis: Shoushan National Nature Park (inside Kaohsiung's urban area)

On September 20, 2023, the National Park Service of the Ministry of the Interior was formally established and upgraded into an independent agency-level body, taking over unified management of national park affairs across Taiwan and replacing the previous fragmented management structure.²

Each step challenged the traditional definition of a national park. Kinmen centers on battlefield historic sites, Dongsha is 99.9% marine area, Taijiang combines human culture and wetlands, and South Penghu Marine National Park is an uninhabited maritime refuge.

📝 Curator's note
The evolution of Taiwan's national parks is unusual: it began with "wilderness protection" (the American national park model),
shifted toward "equal emphasis on culture and nature" (the European protected-area concept), and finally developed Taiwan's own
model of a "three-dimensional protection network across sea, land, and air."

This density is almost unprecedented internationally. For comparison: Yellowstone National Park in the United States alone covers 8,991 square kilometers. Taiwan's entire territory is only four times that size, yet it contains 9 national parks.

Taiwan's Miracles of Species Restoration

Black-faced Spoonbill: From the Brink of Extinction to One-sixth of the Global Population Wintering in Taiwan

In 1989, the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society conducted the first global count of black-faced spoonbills: 288 individuals. The number shocked conservationists around the world. A species was standing so close to extinction.

Thirty-five years later, the 2024 global census showed that the black-faced spoonbill population had reached 6,988 individuals, while the Taijiang National Park area hosts more than 1,000 each winter, making it one of the world's most important wintering habitats.³

Taijiang National Park protects more than 40,000 hectares of wetlands and also works with fishers and salt workers so that traditional industries and ecological protection can coexist. This restoration has depended on precise engineering: habitat designation, fishing regulations, and cooperation from local communities. None of these elements can be missing. Every autumn and winter, when the first black-faced spoonbills land at the Sicao wetlands, people in Tainan know that the signboard of an internationally significant wetland is still lit.

Formosan Landlocked Salmon: A Restoration Legend from 200 Fish to 16,000

In the 1990s, the Formosan landlocked salmon population fell to its lowest point, with only about 200 remaining in the wild and the species on the brink of extinction. This Ice Age relict, known as Taiwan's "national treasure fish," can survive only in streams above 1,500 meters in elevation with water temperatures below 17°C. Climate change and habitat destruction left it with nowhere to retreat.

Shei-Pa National Park took 30 years to raise that number to 16,000.⁴

💡 Did you know?
In September 2025, the Shei-Pa Headquarters used helicopter sling-load transport for the first time
to release more than 1,000 salmon fry into the upper reaches of the Sijielan River. This was Taiwan's
first "aerial restoration release," allowing fry to reach optimal habitat quickly.

The success of the restoration lies in patience, not technology. Wuling Farm reclaimed 8.1 hectares of abandoned farmland, the Qijiawan River underwent a 20-year reforestation program, and cross-watershed release strategies were planned step by step over many years. Today, stable populations exist in the Sijielan River, Qijiawan River, and Hehuan River. The Formosan landlocked salmon is no longer a regular entry on the endangered species list.

Taiwan Black Bear: From Endangered to "No Longer at Risk of Imminent Extinction"

In April 2025, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency publicly stated for the first time that the Taiwan black bear's "population status is no longer at risk of imminent extinction" and that the population had increased by "definitely more than several times" compared with 20 years earlier.⁵

Behind this statement lies 40 years of accumulated conservation work. High-elevation national parks such as Yushan, Taroko, and Shei-Pa have provided core habitat for Taiwan black bears. In recent years, black bear activity has begun expanding into lower mountain areas below 1,200 meters in elevation, indicating that the population has become stable enough to expand naturally.

⚠️ The cost of success
The successful restoration of Taiwan black bears has also brought new challenges. In 2025, a
120-kilogram black bear in Zhuoxi, Hualien, repeatedly preyed on poultry and domestic dogs and was ultimately shot.
Human-bear conflict will be a key focus of the next phase of conservation work.

A World-class High-density Conservation Model

The success of Taiwan's national park system lies not in the size of its protected areas, but in its diversity of types and precision of management.

From Yushan Main Peak at 3,952 meters above sea level to the Dongsha Atoll below sea level; from the volcanic geology of Yangmingshan to the basalt columnar joints of South Penghu Marine National Park; from Kinmen's battlefield historic sites to Shoushan's urban forest. The 9 national parks cover all of Taiwan's major ecosystems and geological types.

This is a three-dimensional protection network with a clear division of labor by ecological zone:

Three terrestrial zones:

• Alpine zone: Yushan, Shei-Pa, and Taroko protect alpine ecosystems and large mammals
• Volcanic zone: Yangmingshan safeguards the Tatun Volcano Group and temperate vegetation
• Coastal zone: Kenting and South Penghu Marine protect coral reef ecosystems

Land-water interfaces:

• Wetland zone: Taijiang maintains internationally significant wetlands and migratory bird routes
• Offshore island zone: Kinmen and Dongsha respectively undertake conservation of battlefield cultural history and marine ecosystems

The National Park Experiment Inside the City

In 2011, Shoushan National Nature Park was established, becoming Taiwan's first national-level protected area located within a metropolitan area. In the southwestern corner of Kaohsiung, 1,131 hectares of coral reef limestone terrain protect the Taiwan-endemic Formosan macaque and the island's largest stand of Buchanania arborescens vegetation.

This experiment challenges a traditional assumption: must national parks be far from cities? Shoushan proves that even on the edge of a metropolitan area, strict protection management can still maintain ecological integrity.

✦ "Large-scale conservation on a small island: Taiwan proves that density is not the enemy of conservation; precision is."

Challenges and Controversies: Growing Pains

Recreation Pressure: National Parks Are Not Amusement Parks

The greatest controversy facing Taiwan's national parks comes from a fundamental misunderstanding: many people treat a "national park" as a "park built by the state."

An observation made in 2015 by Professor Wang Chen-ling of Feng Chia University's Department of Land Management still applies: "Most people, and even the government, misunderstand the term 'national park' literally."⁶ The large numbers of tourists entering Kenting and Taroko each year demand guardrails and warning signs; some have even proposed installing electrical cables at the summit of Yushan or building hotels at Macao in Yangmingshan.

Article 1 of the National Park Law clearly states that national parks are established to protect nationally unique natural scenery, wildlife, and historic sites, "and to provide recreation and education for the public." "Recreation and education" is an additional purpose, and it is limited to recreation areas and general controlled areas. It must not conflict with conservation objectives.

The 2024 Taroko Earthquake: The Dilemma of Conservation and Reconstruction

On April 3, 2024, a powerful earthquake struck Hualien (Central Weather Administration M_L 7.2 / USGS M_w 7.4), and Taroko National Park was among the hardest-hit areas. Multiple trails collapsed, some controlled-access roads were completely closed, the earthquake caused casualties, and normal conservation work in the park was interrupted for months.

The Taroko earthquake raised a question that any conservation system must confront: in Taiwan's complex geological environment, how should the boundary between mountain forest conservation and tourism recreation be set? This is not only a management issue, but also a disaster-prevention policy issue.

Climate Change: A Survival Crisis for Alpine Species

Seventy percent of Taiwan's national park area lies above 1,000 meters in elevation, making alpine ecosystems especially vulnerable to climate change. When temperatures rise by 1°C, the distribution zones of alpine plants must move upward by 150-200 meters. But mountains are only so high; there is no higher refuge left.

The successful restoration of the Formosan landlocked salmon is, in a sense, a race against time. Once stream temperatures exceed 17°C, the national treasure fish cannot survive. Climate change has turned restoration into a race between rising temperatures and the speed of conservation.

Indigenous Rights: Balancing Conservation and Tradition

Seventy-five percent of Taiwan's national parks overlap with the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples. How to balance conservation needs with Indigenous rights has always been a sensitive issue. The Bunun of Yushan, the Atayal of Shei-Pa, and the Truku of Taroko were the earliest guardians of these lands, yet conservation regulations may now restrict their traditional ways of life.

In recent years, national park headquarters have begun working with Indigenous and local communities to promote a "community conservation" model: hiring local residents in Kinmen as conservation volunteers and working with fishers in Taijiang to maintain wetland ecosystems. This model shifts conservation work from "external control" toward "local participation."

The Next 40 Years: The Era of Marine National Parks?

If Taiwan spent the first 40 years building an extremely dense national park system, then the focus of the next 40 years will be the ocean.

Dongsha Atoll National Park is 99.5% marine area, and marine areas also account for 98% of South Penghu Marine National Park. This trend reflects a shift in global conservation thinking: from "land first" toward "equal emphasis on land and sea."

The conservation potential of the seas around Taiwan is indeed considerable. The Kuroshio Current brings rich marine biodiversity, coral reef coverage exceeds 60% in some areas, and seagrass ecosystems provide carbon sink functions. But marine conservation is far more complex than terrestrial conservation: maritime jurisdiction, fishery rights, and international law are each hundreds of times more difficult than designating land-based protected areas.

📊 Future outlook data
According to National Park Service planning, Taiwan's target for marine protected areas is to reach 10% of its exclusive economic zone by 2030,
or about 200,000 square kilometers. This is equivalent to
the area of six Taiwan main islands.

A Small Island with a Large Vision

Returning to the original question: why does an island smaller than Switzerland need 9 national parks?

The answer may lie not in how small Taiwan is, but in how complex it is. Within 36,197 square kilometers of land, this island contains climate zones from the tropics to the frigid zone, a complete geological history of plate collision, cultural layers from Austronesian peoples to Han communities, and nodes along migratory bird routes.

What is most valuable about Taiwan's national park system is not its area, but the completeness of its types. It protects not merely 9 points, but the life code of an island.

Forty-two years ago, when Kenting National Park had just been established, Taiwan was still under martial law. Today, on this island with an extremely high density of national parks, black-faced spoonbills have increased 24-fold, the Formosan landlocked salmon population has multiplied 80-fold, and the Taiwan black bear is no longer endangered. This may be one of the world's most successful high-density conservation experiments: even in the narrowest of spaces, precise conservation work can still create miracles.

References

Further Reading

• Introduction to National Parks — Executive Yuan
• Dongsha Atoll National Park