National Parks of Taiwan

This year (2018), the Taroko National Park Headquarters hosted the Forest and Mountain Wisdom ecological and environmental research camp. The focus of this camp was to pass on the Truku people's knowledge of the mountains and forest onto others, and the activities took students from Taroko National Park and into the neighboring tribal areas. This provided a unique and rewarding learning experience, offering special insight into the culture and natural surroundings of Taroko National Park!

The first stage of the research camp took place from June 30, 2018, to July 2, while the second stage took place from July 7 to 9. Because of Typhoon Maria, park headquarters took extra care to ensure the safety of students and visitors to the park. Fortunately, when the day arrived the weather was clear and sunny, and events proceeded smoothly. Students came from across the country, all possessing different levels of experience with the mountains and forests of Taiwan. Since it was many students' first time climbing a mountain, the park headquarters offered a safety assessment of the park's conditions at the start of each expedition, explaining the principles of safety when mountain climbing and the reasons behind them, and expressing hope that the students can help each other out and show team spirit while in the mountains.

In addition to traversing the mountains, the course also allowed students to experience the culture of the Truku People. Thanks to the cooperation of the Gele Cultural Workshop and the Gedusang Music Studio, students learned about cooking food in bamboo tubes, making bamboo flutes, and other practices of the Truku people, giving them a fuller understanding of the tribe's culture and lifestyle.

Additionally, the students were given the opportunity to hear the traditional folk music and lively stories of the Truku people, and to view a collection of aboriginal art. At mealtimes, the students were given the chance to sample Truku delicacies. The warm welcome that the students received from their aboriginal teachers not only allowed for a rich immersion into the Truku culture but also left on them a lasting and vivid impression of the Truku peoples' kindness and generosity. Along the way, the students were taught to keep the environment clean, and they ate only with environmentally-friendly utensils, increasing their environmental awareness and encouraging them to continue the practice of caring for our ecosystem.

At the end of the camp, the students were put in groups and asked to discuss and summarize what they had learned by writing and designing posters. Although the students were encouraged to work in groups, each of them approached this task with a different outlook and presented their thoughts and ideas through a diverse number of perspectives and approaches. These posters were then put on display in the visitors center where the sincerity and candor of the students received unanimous praise from the park's visitors.