1. Project name in Chinese.

用心聆聽自然、用愛保護地球～「荒野保護協會」

2. Project name in English

Showcase of Taiwan to the world-THE SOCIETY OF WILDERNESS
Listen to Nature with the Heart, Protect the Earth with Love

3. Project Description

The Society of Wilderness (SOW) was established in 1995. It is committed to promoting the conservation of nature and conveying correct knowledge through environmental education and participation. SOW hopes to achieve its goal of habitat conservation and species preservation by raising people’s awareness that may lead to changes in human behaviors toward the environment. Although human beings have enjoyed more convenient life and higher living standards with technological advancement and industrialization, they are gradually alienated from nature and have over-exploited nature, causing extinction of other species.

Through this project, we want to re-discover the inseparable connection between humans and nature and reach out to those who have been disregarding environmental issues and raise their awareness of environmental protection. We sincerely hope that one day we can hold hands together and embrace nature, working together to rebuild the ecological environment around us.

4. Geographic Description

Taiwan is an island in the Pacific Ocean. The island has a diverse nature environment including mountains, forests, rivers, wetland and the ocean, creating various wildlife habitats and abundant species. However, due to geographical limitation, most of the populations are located in the flat coastal plain, which has resulted in destruction of wildlife habitats, causing ecological imbalance and extinction of species. The issue is to find the balance between humans and the environment.

The Society of Wilderness (SOW) hopes to achieve habitat protection through three main strategies: Habitat Projects, Environmental Education, and Addressing Environmental Issues. Habitat Projects include Wugu Wetland in Northern Taiwan and Yilan Shuanglianpi Wetland in Northeast Taiwan. The number of species has been increasing under SOW’s habitat management.

In terms of environmental education, SOW organizes various seminars and ecological tours across Taiwan, bringing more people into nature with the lead of volunteers and guides. For example, the Taipei branch organized an ecological guide at the Fuyang Eco Park. This led us to discover the rich ecosystem hidden in the city which used to be a military ammunition depot.

In addition, in response to environmental issues, SOW is also actively involved with many initiatives. Other than promoting education to more people, it also supervises the government’s policies. For example, SOW initiated a petition with over ten thousand signatures to prevent the development of photoelectric in Taitung Zhiben Wetlands. SOW also hosted many beach cleaning activities in major cities such as Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan, raising the public awareness of “plastic free ocean”. The common purpose of these activities is to transform public opinions into actions to strengthen ecological friendly values and achieve environmental sustainability.