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

Overview

In 2005, the concept of landscape/seascape conservation was introduced into the amended Cultural Heritage Preservation Law of Taiwan as a new legal subject entitled ‘ Cultural Landscape’. Cultural Landscape is a new concept for Taiwan which emphasises the interaction of local people and land. In Hualien County, a potential Cultural Landscape site, a two-year participatory action research project was conducted from May 2011 to June 2013. The current project followed up on the results of the earlier study and examined the fitness of the Satoyama Initiative framework and potential contributions of the collaborative planning approach to the management plan for the Cultural Landscape sites.

Key achievements

• Indigenous and local knowledge was documented and used through community- based and bottom-up approach in line with the Healey’s theory of collaborative planning (Healey, 1997, 1998).
• Cihalaay Cultural Landscape site was officially inscribed under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law.
• A local management committee and code of conduct were established and incorporated into the official Management Principles and Management Plan for the Cihalaay Cultural Landscape site.

Lessons

• A landscape approach based on the frameworks of the Satoyama Initiative and the IUCN protected landscapes can be welcomed by rural people and create a new style of ‘living’ protected landscape into the national protected area system.