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

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

by Paulina Karimova

National Dong Hwa University

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.