Tailoring Satoyama initiative concepts to national and local context: A Case Study of the collaborative planning process of a Rice Paddy Cultural Landscape in an Indigenous Community, Taiwan

Conservation and Management Strategies for Cultural Landscapes: A Case Study of a Continuing Landscape in Taiwan (Chinese)

In 2005, the idea of landscape/seascape conservation was introduced into the amended Cultural Heritage Preservation Law as a new legal subject entitled ‘Cultural Landscape' in Taiwan. Unlike traditional protected areas, namely the IUCN protected area category I-IV, the Cultural Landscape is a new concept to Taiwan which emphasizes the interaction of local people and the land. In order to help stakeholders of governmental authorities and local communities to apply this new instrument, the researcher employs a ommunity-based participatory approach to enhancing partnership among them. The research has especially learnt from the operational guidelines of IUCN protected area category V (the protected landscapes) and the Satoyama Initiative. A pilot study area of a rice paddy production landscape in the indigenous Fengnan village, Hualien County was selected as a potential Cultural Landscape site. A participatory action research was conducted by the researcher in light of the collaborative planning theory and methods to enhance partnership among the villagers, the local authorities’ officers and experts. Various formal and informal forums were conducted in the local area from 2011 to 2013 to achieve consensus on the Codes of Conduct as well as the Management Plan for the Cultural Landscape. Through intense communication in the forums, stakeholders jointly agreed the site to be proposed as a legal Cultural Landscape, developed a mid-term Cultural Landscape Conservation Plan and set up a local management committee for implementation of the Plan. The case study shows that a landscape approach based on the idea of the Satoyama Initiative can be more welcomed by local people and create a new style of ‘living' protected landscape into Taiwan's national protected area system.