AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, NATIONAL LEGISLATION, JUDGEMENTS, AND INSTITUTIONS AS THEY INTERRELATE WITH TERRITORIES AND AREAS CONSERVED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES

This report analyzes the legal and institutional framework surrounding Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (ICCAs) in Taiwan. It examines the tension between traditional indigenous stewardship and a centralized state management system, highlighting the lack of explicit legal recognition for ICCAs despite recent legislative steps like the Basic Act of Indigenous Peoples.

• Taiwan lacks a comprehensive national policy for protected areas, instead relying on a fragmented cluster of laws including the National Park Act (2010), Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (2011), Wildlife Conservation Law (2009), and Forest Act (2004).
• The Basic Act of Indigenous Peoples (2005) is the primary legislation referencing indigenous territories, recognizing rights to lands and natural resources and the right to choose methods of resource utilization and land ownership.
• Despite the Basic Act of Indigenous Peoples, state authorities remain reluctant to share decision-making power with indigenous communities, often limiting their role to consultation rather than co-management.
• A landmark 2010 High Court ruling in the 'Windthrow Beech event' in Smangus marked the first time the Taiwanese judicial system recognized indigenous rights over traditional territories and the right to use woods on those lands.
• Indigenous reserves, covering approximately 250,000 hectares, face significant challenges including low registration rates as indigenous property (11.14% in 1998), illegal use by non-indigenous people, and conflicts with other land-use regulations.
• The Danayiku Nature Park in Shan-mei serves as a successful model of a community-led ICCA, where the Tsou people integrated fish conservation with tourism to generate local income and protect freshwater habitats.
• The Tao (Yami) people of Lanyu maintain traditional ICCA-like systems for managing marine fishing, taro planting, and forests, though these are increasingly threatened by modern technology and government-subsidized powerboats.
• The Smangus community of the Atayal tribe implemented a 'collective management' model called 'Tnunan Smangus' to manage tourism and traditional territories sustainably based on indigenous ecological knowledge.
• Mining operations are identified as a serious threat to indigenous lands, as the Bureau of Mine of the Ministry of Economic Affairs rarely revokes licenses, even when they cause irreparable landscape changes in traditional territories.

APA

Lu, D.-J., Sasala, T., & Chao, C.-L. (2012). AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, NATIONAL LEGISLATION, JUDGEMENTS, AND INSTITUTIONS AS THEY INTERRELATE WITH TERRITORIES AND AREAS CONSERVED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES. Natural Justice. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Asia-Regional-Taiwan.pdf

Chicago

Lu, Dau-Jye, Taiban Sasala, and Chih-Liang Chao. AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, NATIONAL LEGISLATION, JUDGEMENTS, AND INSTITUTIONS AS THEY INTERRELATE WITH TERRITORIES AND AREAS CONSERVED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES. Natural Justice, 2012. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Asia-Regional-Taiwan.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lu |first1=Dau-Jye |last2=Sasala |first2=Taiban |last3=Chao |first3=Chih-Liang |title=AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, NATIONAL LEGISLATION, JUDGEMENTS, AND INSTITUTIONS AS THEY INTERRELATE WITH TERRITORIES AND AREAS CONSERVED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES |publisher=Natural Justice |date=September 2012 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Asia-Regional-Taiwan.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lu2012analysis, author = {Lu, Dau-Jye and Sasala, Taiban and Chao, Chih-Liang}, title = {{AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, NATIONAL LEGISLATION, JUDGEMENTS, AND INSTITUTIONS AS THEY INTERRELATE WITH TERRITORIES AND AREAS CONSERVED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2012}, month = sep, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Asia-Regional-Taiwan.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }