Taiwan’s National Park Act imitated US system of conservation, but without the capacity to make it work.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/18
By: Bin-Min Sung

The concept of national parks was established by the United States in the 19th century.

Photo Credit: Max PixelCC0 Public Domain

Today, national parks around the world are under the guidance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Yet, I argue that the IUCN is not able to offer much support outside of the US-context.

Taiwan passed its National Park Act in 1972, specifically inheriting the US’ system of conservation. However, Taiwan passed this Act with little experience of conservation and a low-level of environmental awareness of issues among society. At the same time, the IUCN had only just formed and was far from able to guide the affairs of global national parks.

Taiwan’s environmental law is also related to that in the United States. In the US, every time a new national park is established, the National Park Act of that park is passed. For example, the US Congress passed the Yellowstone Act in 1872, which signaled the birth of the first National Park. In Taiwan, every national park must be set up on the basis of Taiwan’s environmental law, the National Park Act of 1972 (amended in 2010). It took ten years after this law was established for Taiwan to develop its own national parks.
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