Features

Hope springs eternal for Tanayiku Ecology Park

Young dancers from Saviki Village celebrate Tanayiku’s reopening with song and dance. (Photos by Henry Hu)

• Publication Date：03/18/2011
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Kwangyin Liu

At the Tanayiku Natural Ecology Park, a group of young men and women beam with joy as they bounce and twirl about in their colorful costumes. It is a special day for them: the park, in which the dancers reside, has finally reopened to the public, 18 months after it was destroyed by Typhoon Morakot, the most powerful storm to strike Taiwan in more than half a century.

The dancers are members of the Tsou tribe, one of 14 officially recognized indigenous groups in Taiwan. Their village, Saviki, is situated in the middle of the Tanayiku valley, a place so beautiful it is often referred to as “the glen where all sorrows are forgotten.”

But Morakot, which brought more than 2,000 millimeters of rain in three days, turned the Saviki Village upside down. The Shan-mei Bridge, an 86-meter-long concrete structure and the only pathway connecting Tanayiku to the outside world, was annihilated by the deadly combination of rocks and rainwater, which buckled roads and toppled homes as it made its way down into the muddy streams.

“When I saw how bleak our valley had become, my heart broke and I barely had the strength to walk,” said Akuanu Yasiyungu, director-general of Saviki Community Development Association, in a documentary made by the Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council. “I couldn’t control my tears. I had no idea what tomorrow would bring,” she said, her voice coarse as she spoke.

“The Tanayiku park, though still recovering, has emerged stronger than ever,” says Akuanu Yasiyungu.

Yasiyungu had ample reason to grieve. Known for its stunning cliffs and rivers teeming with Taiwan ku fish, Tanayiku was established in 1995 as the nation’s first natural park to be operated entirely by the resident community. During peak season, the park would receive as many as 4,500 tourists a day, more than six times the village’s entire population.

Things were so awful after Morakot it was not clear whether the village and the valley were worth salvaging. “In a community meeting convened a few days after the calamity, half the villagers voiced their opposition to rebuilding, saying it would only be a waste of time and money,” Saviki Village head Voyu Noacachiana told Taiwan Today in an interview. “Despair was eating our hearts out.”

But in the darkest abyss there is always a gleam of hope. Inspired by the determination of residents like Yasiyungu and Noacachiana, the villagers plucked up their courage and decided to put up a fight for their beloved valley. Meanwhile, the reconstruction council also intervened, offering a generous rebuilding fund of NT$1.36 billion (US$46 million), to help repair damaged roads, houses and the amphitheatre, one of the park’s signature pieces.

“Tanayiku was once destroyed, but now it has been given a new face and a new lease on life,” said a smiling Noacachiana. “We’re very happy the entire village was able to work together to decide the course of reconstruction.”

Voyu Noacachiana, head of Saviki Village, says his community is resilient and can weather all challenges.

In fact, people in Saviki have long been familiar with the idea of self-governance. Back in the 1980s, Pasuya Yatauyongana, a village missionary, took pains to mobilize Saviki and other nearby villages for an initiative to revive Tanayiku, which was then plagued by overfishing and pollution.

In an agreement every adult was required to sign, the Savikis made their resolve clear: “Tanayiku is the common property of the Saviki people; anyone above 15 and under 50 is responsible for safeguarding Tanayiku. We will never allow any investment and development projects initiated by private corporations.”

The villagers then devised a solidarity plan for community development, according to which they would protect their environment while encouraging tourists to come and enjoy its beauty. This ecotourism model, in which a community declares its natural resources a public asset, is unique in Taiwan and has drawn the attention of researchers.

Canadian geographer William Hipwell has cited Tanayiku as an example of community-based ecotourism, pointing out that the Saviki initiative has helped preserve Tanayiku’s natural treasure and facilitate the unity of the Tsou youth. “The Tsou were compelled both to relearn some of the ecological knowledge that they had lost and to re-embrace the traditional nature ethic that had sustained them for millennia,” he wrote in a research paper dedicated to Tanayiku.

Saviki villagers including Yasiyungu and Noacachiana are well aware of their treasures, to which they have dedicated their lives. Now that the village has been restored, performances and guided tours are being offered every day. Local cuisine and handmade bamboo crafts are among some of the new items introduced to tourists.

Some of the revenues generated through tourism, Yasiyungu said, will be used to rebuild local infrastructure or to provide subsidies for school children and the elderly. “This fund-sharing mechanism encourages the villagers to work harder for the community,” she said.

The funds will be sorely needed. Although much of Tanayiku has been rebuilt, the Shan-mei Bridge is still not operational. To reach the village, travelers need to descend to the bottom of the valley and cross the shallow parts of the river on a makeshift overpass.

But the Saviki people and the Tanayiku Park are both well on their way to a complete recovery, thanks to the strength, determination and courage of countless individuals. “We want the people out there to know that we are back and stronger than ever before,” said Yasiyungu. “Whatever challenges tomorrow may bring, we are ready to face them.” (HZW)

Write to Kwangyin Liu at kwangyin.liu@mail.gio.gov.tw