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

The report examines the status of ICCAs in Taiwan, highlighting a systemic lack of formal legal recognition for indigenous customary land and resource rights. While the Basic Act of Indigenous Peoples (2005) provides some theoretical recognition, state agencies—particularly the Forestry Bureau—remain reluctant to share decision-making power. The document details several community-led conservation successes, such as the Danayiku Nature Park and the Smangus village's collective management, and notes a positive shift in judicial trends where courts have begun to recognize traditional territories.

• Taiwan lacks a comprehensive national policy framework for protected areas, instead relying on a cluster of unrelated 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) defines 'Indigenous Land' and recognizes rights to lands and natural resources, but the government has not yet passed the necessary rules to implement these rights for traditional territories, limiting successful land claims.
• State authorities, specifically the Forestry Bureau and National Park Administrations, are generally reluctant to share actual decision-making power with indigenous communities, often limiting their role to consultation or low-level participation in activities like ecotourism.
• The Danayiku Nature Park in Shan-mei serves as a successful model of a stream and fishery ICCA, where the community integrated conservation with tourism to generate local income and protect fish stocks through a collective management body.
• The Smangus village of the Atayal people implemented a 'collective management' model called 'Tnunan Smangus' to manage tourism and forest preservation on their traditional territory, prioritizing biodiversity and internal rules over state regulations.
• A landmark 2010 High Court ruling regarding the Smangus village marked the first time the Taiwanese judicial system recognized indigenous rights to use forest products on traditional territories, overturning a previous theft conviction.
• The Tao (Yami) people of Lanyu maintain traditional ICCA-like systems for taro planting, freshwater management, and marine fishing, though these are increasingly threatened by modern technology, powerboats, and tourism.
• Mining operations are identified as a significant 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} }