Analysis of the Implementation Structure of the Yushan Peak Trails in Yushan National Park, Taiwan

Abstract

This paper analyzes the implementation structures of the Yushan Peak Trails in Yushan National Park, Taiwan to elucidate the lessons for Japanese trail management since Taiwanese National Parks adopts similar designation system and land ownership as Japanese National Parks. This paper takes methodologies of literature reviews, statistical analysis, interviews to Department of National Parks in central government, questionnaires to Yushan National Park Headquarters and participatory observation including the application for permits and actual trekking on October 21-22, 2019. From the survey, authors identified the following; Firstly, Yushan Peak Trail limit the numbers of overnight permit up to 116 distinguishing the application methods between foreigners and Taiwanese. For foreigners, 24 persons per day are permitted by first-come base, application starting from four months to 35 days prior to the trekking date while the other 92 persons per are selected by lot from Taiwanese and those foreigners who starts to days trekking the drawing is made. Application is possible through online, postal mail, and in person by Chinese, English and Japanese languages. 5 staffs are allocated for the permission services spending 3.75 million TWD while the maintenance cost for online application is 1.5 million TWD a year. Any costs for application and ex-ante guidance course are free （ covered by government ） for applicants which is different from Japanese system characterized by beneficiary pay principle and outsourcing to private sectors. Secondly, authors identified the related legal frameworks and stakeholders in case of regulation/ deregulation of forests and trails in Yushan National Park. Based on the legal analysis and questionnaires, not only central ministries such as Forestry Agency and Police Agency, local governments are largely included in the process of consultation and coordination. This is similar to Japanese national parks which include variety of land ownerships and stakeholders, however, coordination among agencies are identified as more trouble-free and smoother than Japanese cases according to interviews to the Director of National Parks and questionnaires to the Yushan Naitonal Park HQ. For the monitoring of the permit, park authority is proactively collaborating with police department and park volunteers resulting in average of 30.75 cases of illegal park entry every per year. This number far exceeds Japanese cases and indicates the robust monitoring system in Taiwan. Finally, author discusses the characteristics of Taiwanese National Park as “better coordination and rich administrative resources” eliciting from the analysis of implementation structures of Yushan trail management comparing to Japan’s characteristics of “weak coordination and vulnerable administrative resources” indicated by previous literatures.