Ecotourism in the aftermath of Morakot
In summer or winter, Alishan makes me shiver.
But in December, my trip to this place famous for its sunrise, mountain railway and forest was made even colder by the fact that it was just about picking itself up from the devastation of typhoon Morakot.
Alishan, located in Chiayi County southwest of Taipei, was among Taiwan’s famous tourist places that were damaged by Morakot along with most of the country’s southern counties. Morakot battered Taiwan in August 2009 in a manner very similar to Manila’s Ondoy (Ketsana) that struck in November.
Alishan was closed to tourists from August to mid-November. At the time a group of international journalists visited the area on the invitation of the Government Information Office in the first week of December, only small vans were allowed in the area as most roads were still undergoing rehabilitation.
The mountain railway also had to stop operating as parts of the railtracks were affected. It is said that it will take two years for the narrow-gauge railroad to become operational again.
There were very few tourists, not more than 100 that stayed in the early afternoon to watch the regular performance of a group of aboriginal dancers, members of the Tsou tribe. The thin crowd of mostly local tourists is unusual for Alishan.
At night time, we were billeted at the Yi Gu House, a Chiayi homestay inside Shangmei Village. This homestay, for me, is enough reason to travel to this place if one is seeking for a refuge or a more rustic setting.
Shangmei has a population of only 700 people from the Tsou tribe. It is a self-sustaining community that lives on the revenues of the Danayigu National Ecological Area. Morakot totally devastated the Danayigu park which earns NT $30 million annually. This revenue is ploughed back to provide everything for the villagers. With the park in ruins, the people are worried how they will survive. It would take years to rebuild the mountain roads. Some of the park’s features—such as streams—may never be restored anymore.
Less popular than Alishan, Danayigu is home to the Taiwan ku-fish ((Varicorhinus alticorpus), also known as "Taiwan’s national treasure fish."
This rare fish had made a successful recovery recently after the stretches of the Zengwen River it lives in had been sealed off for 20 years. It has become endangered again after Morakot brought mudslides that inundated the park and the upper reaches of the Zengwen River.
An Li-hua, president of the Shangmei Community Development Association, said the villagers are facing a lot of uncertainties since they know that some long-term help they need may also take time to happen.
"People understand government has processes," he said.
The possibility of some kind of "disaster tourism" has not dawned on them yet but they are grateful for the initial assistance that has come to them.
Chiayi might have been losing a lot of tourism revenues because of Morakot but the damage wrought by the typhoon was mostly limited to infrastructure.
Traveling in narrow mountainside roads from Chiayi to Kaohsiung County, we saw abandoned villages, isolated houses and damaged roads that all told of the massive extent of the devastation.
The only thing that saved southern Taiwan from a higher number of casualties was its low population density.
Further south in Kaohsiung County, the entire village of Xiaolin was buried in the landslide. At least 400 people were buried in this mountainside village.
Relatives of the victims and the government have decided not to excavate the area which has been declared as a high danger zone. A memorial will instead be erected to remember the dead and the entire village.
Central to Taiwan’s reconstruction effort is a consideration for the welfare and preservation of the indigenous culture. Taiwan has 14 recognized aboriginal tribes with a population of 490,000 or two percent of Taiwan’s entire population.
Some aboriginal groups displaced by the typhoon have agreed to be relocated, but some are expectedly clinging on to their damaged lands and houses.
Touring the affected townships and villages, we were greeted by Chang Chiung Nian Mei, 55, a member of the Bunan tribe in Nanshalu, a township in Kaohsiung County.
The entire village is practically abandoned but she has decided to stay.
Speaking through an interpreter, she said Nanshalu is her ancestors’ land.
Despite efforts by the government to convince people like her that their village is no longer safe, she said Morakot "will not happen again. It only happens once."
Most of the villagers are in evacuation centers in military camp awaiting permanent resettlement to housing projects being built by the government or by private organizations like the Tzu Chi Foundation, which is building permanent housing in Shanlin Township.