First case in a national park: Xibao settlement in Taroko goes organic

Taroko National Park's magnificent gorge is famous worldwide, but many people may not know that up in the mountains, a 10-minute drive from the Tianxiang section of Taroko, sits Xibao settlement, the first in Taiwan, China to be transformed through a national park combining with the organic industry.

In 2010, the Taroko National Park Headquarters commissioned the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation to guide farmers in switching to organic farming methods for growing vegetables. After experiencing "cabbages with wild boar tooth marks," "green peppers left half-eaten by Taiwan macaques," and countless leaves riddled with insect holes, farmers in recent years have finally gradually accepted the concept of "sharing food" with nature. Of the 8 households in Xibao settlement, 7 have converted to organic farming, and 2 households in nearby Luoshao have also joined, covering a total area of about 10 hectares. Last year, with the conservation-listed species the Mountain Scops Owl as its representative creature, the settlement applied for a green conservation label, hoping to further transform into an eco-village in the future.

Promoting organics to dissolve the antagonism between the national park and residents

(This article was funded by the Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation for personnel expenses, but the foundation exercises no interference whatsoever over news topic selection, interviewing or writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)