Qiu Jinghui / Get moving! Let's reclaim rural diversity together - the wish of the 22nd Yellow Butterfly Festival

Exploration: From forest conservation to the restoration of farmland ecosystems

Reflecting on how, since the 1960s, agricultural production has blindly pursued efficiency and overused chemical fertilizers and pesticides; in addition, farmland readjustment has straightened farmland, farm roads and waterways, which has also caused species once commonly seen in farmland ecosystems to become nearly extinct. How to extend the ecological conservation work in the Yellow Butterfly Valley to the Meinong Plain is also a question everyone is concerned about.

Five years ago, the 19th Yellow Butterfly Festival, under the theme "Water and Fields, Evergreen My Village," cooperated with three elementary schools along the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Meinong River to establish natural and cultural clubs such as the Spring Club. Through cultivating children as ecological seeds, various conservation plans were gradually launched, strengthening the cultural foundation of community ecology. That year's series of developments themed around "satoyama" indirectly prompted the Agriculture Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government to conduct a survey of farmland ecosystems in Meinong, in the hope of extending the battle line of habitat conservation from forest areas to farmland areas.

After a solid year of investigation and discussion of issues, the seasonal farming calendar of Meinong and its common or special species were finally gathered into the volume "Cultivating and Reading the Meinong Fields." During the survey period, there was also an incident involving a soil and water conservation project to restore the Longdu Wild Creek. Because both banks of the wild creek still retain complete riparian forest, it is a habitat for rare species such as the Matrona basilaris and the amber dragonfly, and is also a place for outdoor education for nearby schoolchildren. Through coordination and communication, the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau was prompted to revise the project to reduce the scope of ecological impact, and also prompted that elementary school to establish the "Spring Creek Survey Club" to continue paying attention to that wild creek.

Last year, the Agriculture Bureau continued with the "Meinong Satoyama Project to Guide Farmers in Implementing Eco-Friendly Farming Methods," helping farmers who support friendly farming obtain the "Green Conservation Label." With the efforts of the coaching team, as of now, eight farmers have been assisted in passing the Green Conservation Label certification. These include: Yuanmengyuan Natural Ecological Vegetable and Fruit Orchard, My Aoxia Tea Garden, Guoranhong Farm, Jingxin Gengshi Garden, Tongxin Garden, Friendly Farmland, You Kuai Tian, and Longdu Elementary School.

In order to exchange more biological control methods, Professor Sun Yuanxun's bird laboratory at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology was also invited to provide teaching demonstrations on making raptor perches, attracting black-winged kites to stay at fixed points, replacing rat poison with biological control, and reducing incidents of secondary poisoning of raptors; later, the Environmental Protection Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government further stepped in and set up raptor perches in seven Green Conservation farmland areas. In order to bring back the pheasant-tailed jacana once commonly seen in rural areas, Liu Xiaoshen and Huang Shumei rented a field beside Meinong Lake to create habitat for the "wave-riding fairy," adding an ecological highlight to Meinong Lake; whether the pheasant-tailed jacana, which pecks at insects in wild lotus fields, can become a conservation label for wild lotus still awaits further observation.

Prelude: The Yellow Butterfly Festival and biodiversity

In response to "mainstreaming biodiversity"(CBD COP14)conservation thinking, breaking away from the traditional conservation methods of species and habitats, and placing greater emphasis on connections with the culture and society of local residents, the methods are lively and diverse. After the first preparatory discussion for this year's Yellow Butterfly Festival, it was decided to inviteSecretary-General Wang Chengzhi of the "Taiwan Wilderness Natural Communication Society," who has deeply promoted conservation communication, and Dr. Dong Jingsheng, who is currently advancing the "National Botanical Garden Ark Plan," to come and share new perspectives on biodiversity as references for Meinong's conservation action plans.

The organization of biodiversity activities at the Yellow Butterfly Festival can be traced back to the 17th Yellow Butterfly Festival's "Yellow Butterfly Valley Ecological Diversity Forum,"on World Environment Day, conservation partners who had conducted research on bats, fish, frogs, trees and birds in Yellow Butterfly Valley were invited to share the results of their research surveys with the public. Since then, there has been a "biodiversity" themed activity every year,whether indoor lectures, outdoor surveys, or ecological experiences, all are an important part of the Yellow Butterfly Festival's public ecological education.

This year's biodiversity-themed activities planned a total of five lectures, such as "Participatory Ethnobotanical Seed Conservation" and "Experience Sharing on Habitat Management for the Pheasant-Tailed Jacana at Meinong Lake”、“Country Living Notes: The Diversity of Everyday Life in Meinong," as well as four satoyama experience activities such as "Creek Survey" and "Moth Night Observation," serving to link various themed activities such as the forest concert.

Tacit Knowing: Weaving the stage of satoyama diversity

In view of the fact that biodiversity conservation actions await more input from public forces, the Meinong Yellow Butterfly Festival, now in its 24th year, has taken "Get Moving - Satoyama Diversity" as the call for this year's opening activities, and uses "environmental art" as its method, inviting artists, nature guides, ecological researchers, environmental education personnel, friendly-farming farmers and other guides in different roles to use the stage of nature to guide the public in interacting with the land, forming various collective creations of "paying tribute to the land," so that ecological awareness can be promoted more universally and sustainably.

For the key visual, artist Lin Yanling, who moved to Meinong ten years ago, was invited to create "Tacit Knowing Forest." The creatures hiding in the forest, hidden and not revealed, remind people that not seeing them does not mean they do not exist. Through "Tacit Knowing Forest," the artist invites everyone to set aside the noise and quietly feel: "Close your eyes and feel the scent of the forest. Imagine: insects, fish, birds, and beasts gazing at one another deep in the forest….."