Reflecting Deer Restoration in Kenting National
Park, Taiwan
The Effects of the Re-introduced Sika Deer toward Ecosystems and Rural
Communities
Review of Formosan Sika Deer Status
Formosan Sika Deer (Cervus nippon taiouanus) is a Taiwanese endemic subspecies,
and the only extinct deer in the Taiwan wilderness.
They were once widespread over the island of Taiwan, and had a huge population living
in the plains and hills of the low and middle altitude about 300-400 years ago. However,
deer have an important economic value and have been traditionally utilized in many
ways. So, in the early history of Taiwan, the migrant and indigenous people hunted
deer for their food and by-products. In this century, as many as 50,000 Sika Deer
skins a year went to Japan, and the deer pelt exports peaked at 100,000 one year
(Kuo 1994). In addition, the native habitat was destroyed by expanding agriculture
and development. Those factors of severe exploitation and habitat
degradation led to the deer's extinction in the wild. McCullough (1973) pointed
out Formosan Sika Deer would be extinct by 1969, and the only deer left were in captivity.
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The Origin of the Sika Deer Re-introduction Project
In the 1980's, the Taiwan government and the public generally started to reflect
on their conservation policy. For many decades, the government and people thought
that industrial and economic development have a supreme priority, and ignored proper
environmental protection. When the land was heavily industrialized and densely populated,
a civic movement of conservation gradually developed. The will and demand of civic
society also influenced government. The government finally passed its environmental
policy plans for sustainable development including ecological perspectives. Since
1987, there has been a re-introduction project
of Sika deer conducted by Kenting National Park. The government tried to restore
the Sika Deer population here first, because it is the only lowland National Park
in Taiwan, and is also a historic site of Sika deer distribution.
My question is:
What are the effects of re-introduced Sika Deer in the ecosystems and the rural communities?
We will deal with two primary factors:
1. One is natural component: to use Geographic Information System (GIS) skills to
analyze and simulate the deer browsing impacts upon vegetation
and avian-biodiversity in the ecosystem; 2. the other one is social
component: to conduct qualitative, in-depth interviews
to explore how the local communities interact with the deer impact and the re-introduction
project of Kenting National Park.
Natural Science Component
Successful re-introduction project is judged by profitability over time, and
we should ensure that re-introduction practices are ecologically desirable in an
ecosystem perspective . After releasing 10 deer first into the wild in 1995, the
National Park merely had a basic monitor project to trace the survival and population
dynamics of few radio-collared deer. There is still not any research about the ecological
impact on the whole ecosystem scale . In this re-introduced stage, it is very important
to examine the up-to-date outcome continuedly, and to establish any ecological adjustment
if need. Recently due to a high-density population in the earliest release Area 1,
the deer grazing impact was intensive . The browsing effect gradually included soil erosion, degradation of vegetation succession, changing the
forestry composition and abundance, changing the avian bio-diversity and other factors.
Besides, in the low-density deer area where we released deer into the wild, the population
has increased rapidly to 20-30 individuals since 1995. All the detailed impact is
unknown and needs to research.
Method: To understand the status of the re-introduced deer in population and
ecological levels, I will focus on a spatially ecological
research of the deer population, and a landscape
simulation for the whole ecosystem management responses to various forms
of deer impacts. I intend to collect data on the spatial selection of food and habitat
by Formosan Sika Deer in the wild. In order to understand their distribution model
and resource partition, I will concentrate on the ecological patterns of browsing
effects by building the fundamental background of the GIS database. Based on the
above information, this research will evaluate further management strategies after
the release of the deer. I will use the GIS spatial explicit
model to generate the deer-impact simulation in the vicinty of the park,
and suggest the practical management practices for biodiversity conservation and
ecosystem management.
Social Science Component
According to Earle (1997), ecosystem management integrates knowledge of ecological
relationships within a socio-political value framework. But in the beginning, the
whole re-introduced project was mostly centered on a self-sustainable deer population
in single-species perspective. The project ignored the socio-economically
acceptablity and the social changes in rural communities. In the preliminary interviews(1996),
most residents refused to support the deer re-introduction because they were dissatisfied
with the practices and controls of the National Park. The human-park or human-deer
conflicts also resulted from the low degree of public-invlovement
in the decision-making process, and the residents didn't realize the benefits
from the re-introduction project. Continuously monitoring the restoration program
in a human dimension allows all of the stakeholders to keep learning, build their
own experiences, and adjust our strategies to achieve the goals of the re-introduced
project and ecosystem management as efficiently as possible.
Method: Management effectiveness should be concerned with resident attitudes
and reactions, either in their outward behavior or in their perception. I will conduct
a qualitative survey for community's self-evaluation
mainly in the local opinion-leadership scale and traditional county institutional
levels. Study factors will be various types of recreational, environmental, economic
benefits and problems, which the re-introduction project either directly provided
or caused (Kellert 1984). The research will provide a better understanding of the
human-deer interaction in the rural communities near Kenting National Park, especially
the socio-economic impact and the new trend of eco-tourism. This attitudinal
survey can effectively offer guidance for further management adjustment, as well
as provide baseline data to assess management policies (Byers 1996). While working
with the local people and economic-politic organizations who face the ecosystem management
issue, my data will also improve the re-introduction project, and enhance the participation
of local people as stewards. The goal of this research is looking forward
to the total ecosystem management or the holistic resource management with a view
toward broad human dimensions.
Literature Cited
Abel, N. and P. Blaikie. 1986. Elphants, people, parks and development: the case
of the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Environmental Management 10(6):735-751.
Byers, B. A. 1996. Understanding and influencing behaviors in conservation and natural
resources management. African Biodiversity Series, No. 4. Biodiversity Support Program
in USAID. Washington, D.C. 43-61Pp.
Earle, J. L. 1997. Across-cultural study of individual attitudes toward natural resources
and natural resources development, San Luis Valley, Colorado. Ph.D. thesis. University
of Colorado.
Kellert, S. R. 1984. Assessing wildlife and environmental values in cost-benefit
analysis. Journal of Environmental Management 18(4):355-363.
Kuo, Guol-way. 1994. The study of field behavior and habitat use of Formosan Sika
Deer (Cervus nippon taiouanus). M.S. thesis. National Taiwan Normal University,
Taipei, Taiwan.
McCullough, D. R. 1974. Status of larger mammals in Taiwan. Tourism Bureau, Taipei,
Taiwan, R. O. C. 35Pp.