the government will help preserve aboriginal culture through restoration of
relics and original buildings. To foster economic development within the
national park, the government is prepared to support aboriginal handicrafts,
hire aboriginals to organize forest and wildlife restoration and make up
inspection teams, and rebuild the infrastructure according to the needs of the
aboriginal tribes. The government’s mid and long-term goals are to strengthen
the aboriginal production system and promote eco-tourism.^102 The ultimate
goal is to establish a co-management system for sustainable development in
this minority area.
CONCLUSIONS
In this chapter we have considered two different systems of protecting
biodiversity through the establishment of PAs. China’s system is enormous,
including a total area greater than several large European countries. Yet China
and Taiwan have approximately the same percentage of land (15–19 percent)
in categories designed to protect species and ecosystems.
The system in China evolved differently than that in Taiwan. China was
slow to establish reserves; then, in the late 1980s, PAs grew rapidly, and in
recent years over 200 reserves have been established. This rapid rate in
expansion must account for the several difficulties discussed in financing and
managing the PAs. In contrast, the expansion of protected areas in Taiwan was
more gradual.
The Chinese system is far simpler than that in Taiwan. Most PAs have
identical structures: core areas, buffer zones, and experimental zones, with
invariant restrictions for each zone, irrespective of differences in ecosystem
type, species protected, or socio-economic conditions of the area. China’s is a
one-size-fits-all approach. Taiwan, on the other hand, uses the IUCN
categories, which permit a range of uses such as nature reserves, national
parks, wildlife refugees, and national scenic areas, each with different
purposes and accompanying restrictions. Our interviews in China revealed
great interest in adopting the IUCN categories. Clearly, it would be to China’s
advantage to transform many of its nature reserves into national parks. This
would increase the flexibility of China’s system.
Our examination of challenges to the system revealed differences and
similarities in management and operations. Protected areas in both jurisdic-
tions have large problems of administrative organization and coordination,
because several agencies have missions with respect to biodiversity conserva-
tion and land-use management. However, these conflicts and inefficiencies are
not unique to China and Taiwan. Also, administrative and coordination
problems are especially prevalent regarding environmental issues.
128 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan