The Warmhearted Strength of Taiwan

Have you ever slowed down to appreciate this island we call home? This month we invite you to look beyond Taiwan’s surface beauty and discover stories shaped by love and care. We not only highlight Taiwan’s rich natural resources, but draw attention to the warmhearted links between this land and its people—links that deserve to be savored, and can provide inspiration for moving forward.

The seas around Taiwan are home to nearly one-third of the world’s reef-building coral species—on par with Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Retired professor Dai Chang-feng of National Taiwan University, a pioneer in Taiwanese coral research who has coined the Chinese scientific names of many coral species, has witnessed the changes in Taiwan’s marine environment. He concludes that the most important step in coral protection is environmental ­conservation.

In Hualien, Liao Hong-chi launched Taiwan’s whale-watching movement in 1996. Today, through his Hualien Formosa Association and the “Visit the Pacific Sperm Whale π Project,” he continues to turn ocean tourism into a platform for conservation and awareness.

Turning our sights inland, Xie Xintian and other watchers at the Yushan Weather Station, 3,858 meters high on Yu­shan’s North Peak, have braved harsh conditions to collect vital meteorological data. For climbers, the cup of hot coffee they find offered here exemplifies the warmheartedness that is typical of Taiwan.

Coming back to the seaside, the community of Gongliao on Taiwan’s Northeast Coast blends traditional wisdom with modern sustainability. The locality holds traces of Taiwan’s layered past, from Pingpu indigenous peoples to Han Chinese and the Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese colonists. Its stories highlight the Taiwanese people’s profound love for this land. Despite different backgrounds, together they have created our island’s unique landscapes.

This enduring love is the source of the perseverance shown in Dai Chang-feng’s 40 years of coral research, Liao Hong-chi’s 20-plus years of whale watching, and Xie Xintian’s 29 years at the Yushan Weather Station. It is also an integral part of the day-to-day lives of countless local people as they co-exist with nature.

We hope this issue’s content helps you feel the strength that comes from this love and connection. Conservation is more than a slogan, it is something practiced in the details of daily life. Sustainability is not just a goal, but a process of building deep attachments between ourselves and nature. Let us treasure this beauty and pass along this love, so that Taiwan continues to shine.