An integrated landscape approach for revitalisation of indigenous socio-ecological production landscape and seascape in Xinshe Village, Hualien County, Taiwan

NDHU, Landscape Conservation & Community Participation Laboratory
Published: 27 April 2021
Last edited: 30 January 2023
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Summary

The Xinshe Socio-Ecological Production Landscape and Seascape (SEPLS) is a sub-tropical ridge to reef watershed located in Xinshe Village in Taiwan. In the early 2010s, despite its rich Indigenous sustainable resource management, the Xinshe SEPLS was struggling with the consequences of rapid socio-economic development as well as issues of depopulation and aging, deterioration of farmlands, degradation of natural resources, loss of Indigenous know how, lack of incentives for young people to return home.

In October 2016, the Xinshe Forest-River-Village-Ocean Eco-Agriculture Initiative and its multi-stakeholder platform facilitated by the National Dong Hwa University introduced an innovative landscape approach and an adaptive co-management model inspired by the 5 perspectives of the Satoyama Initiative - ecosystem health and connectivity, sustainable resource use, traditions and innovation, multi-stakeholder governance, sustainable livelihoods.

The Xinshe Initiative has now entered its mid-term implementation phase (2021-2026).

Classifications

Region
East Asia
Scale of implementation
Local
Ecosystem
Agro-ecosystem
Agroforestry
Beach
Coral reef
Cropland
Forest ecosystems
Freshwater ecosystems
Marine and coastal ecosystems
Open sea
Orchard
River, stream
Tropical evergreen forest
Theme
Access and benefit sharing
Adaptation
Agriculture
Coastal and marine spatial management
Connectivity / transboundary conservation
Culture
Disaster risk reduction
Ecosystem services
Fisheries and aquaculture
Food security
Forest Management
Genetic diversity
Habitat fragmentation and degradation
Health and human wellbeing
Indigenous people
Infrastructure maintenance
Invasive alien species
Outreach & communications
Restoration
Science and research
Sustainable livelihoods
Terrestrial spatial planning
Tourism
Traditional knowledge
Transport
Water provision and management
Watershed management
Urban and Disaster Risk Management
Resilience and disaster risk management
Challenges
Avalanche/landslide
Erratic rainfall
Loss of Biodiversity
Ocean warming and acidification
Sea level rise
Shift of seasons
Tropical cyclones / Typhoons
Ecosystem loss
Invasive species
Pollution (incl. eutrophication and litter)
Unsustainable harvesting incl. Overfishing
Inefficient management of financial resources
Infrastructure development
Lack of alternative income opportunities
Changes in socio-cultural context
Lack of public and decision maker’s awareness
Lack of technical capacity
Poor governance and participation
Sustainable development goals
SDG 3 – Good health and well-being
SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 14 – Life below water
SDG 15 – Life on land
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the goals
Aichi targets
Target 1: Awareness of biodiversity increased
Target 2: Biodiversity values integrated
Target 4: Sustainable production and consumption
Target 5: Habitat loss halved or reduced
Target 6: Sustainable management of aquatic living resources
Target 7: Sustainable agriculture, aquaculture and forestry
Target 8: Pollution reduced
Target 9: Invasive alien species prevented and controlled
Target 10: Ecosystems vulnerable to climate change
Target 14: Ecosystem services
Target 15: Ecosystem restoration and resilience
Target 16: Access to and sharing benefits from genetic resources
Target 17: Biodiversity strategies and action plans
Target 18: Traditional knowledge
Target 19: Sharing information and knowledge
Target 20: Mobilizing resources from all sources
Business engagement approach
Direct engagement with associations

Location

Xinshe, Fengbin Township, Hualien, Taiwan

Impacts

The Xinshe Initiative has demonstrated how multi-stakeholder efforts can contribute to the establishment of means to enhance sustainable local livelihoods.

The initial phase of the Initiative (2016-2019) was characterised by laying out stepping stones (stakeholders cooperation across sectors and knowledge paradigms) and harvesting the low-hanging fruit by tackling the most urgent issues (waterways restoration, farmland revitalisation, crop diversification, eco-friendly farming, taking stock of freshwater and marine biodiversity, documenting traditional knowledge of the elders).

In 2020, the Xinshe Initiative conducted 12 community-based Resilience Assessment Workshops (RAWs) as a means of direct input into planning for the subsequent 2021-2026 mid-term phase. Over the next years, the Initiative will focus on:

  • enhancing the protection and sustainable use of freshwater and marine resources
  • promoting eco-agriculture and native crops
  • documenting Indigenous know how
  • disaster risks prevention

To date, the impacts of the Initiative have already exceeded the geographic scale of the Xinshe SEPLS and the successful adaptive co-management model is now being considered for adoption by other communities across Taiwan. In 2021, more RAWs will be conducted in eight other SEPLS nationwide as a part of the Taiwan Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative.

Contributed by

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Paulina Karimova National Dong Hwa University

Other contributors

National Dong Hwa University