Taiwan is a small island with a high population density of average 649 people/km². The middle and lower reaches of the island are mainly occupied with rural and urban areas. Eighty percent (80%) of the population is concentrated in urban areas which cover only 13% of Taiwan’s total land, while natural and rural areas take up 58% and 29% respectively. Known as one of Four Asian Tigers, starting from mid-1960s, Taiwan experienced an unprecedented industrial development and economic growth, which resulted in its present-day high levels of urbanization, widespread practice of conventional agriculture and substantial land use changes.

In the past, satoyama and satoumi were characteristic of the livelihoods of local and indigenous communities in Taiwan. Environmentally friendly agriculture, forestry, fishery, livestock farming, hunting, and gathering supported by intergenerational knowledge transfer were the key factors that ensured a harmonious balance between humans and nature. However, socio-economic development of the recent decades has led to a pervasive deterioration of Taiwan’s socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) causing environmental decline, loss of traditional ethics and culture, disintegration of rural communities, and biodiversity loss.

Since the 1980s, concerns for humans’ “destructive force” have prompted active conservation efforts and establishment of protected natural areas in Taiwan. However there has long been a failure to recognise the role of man-managed agricultural landscapes in biodiversity conservation and environmental protection. Establishing connections between forests, rivers, human settlements, and seas in natural and rural areas of Taiwan has long been in an urgent need for integrated approaches to conservation, revitalisation and sustainability.

Thus, in 2010, introduction of the Satoyama Initiative to Taiwan was viewed as an opportunity to reshape the conservation dialogue and bring the local communities, government agencies and the whole of society into the picture. Since then a wide array of SEPLS revitalization activities has taken place in the name of the Satoyama Initiative and four organizations from Taiwan joined IPSI between 2010 and 2014: National Dong Hwa University (NDHU, 2011), Taiwan Society for Wildlife and Nature (SWAN, 2012), Taiwan Ecological Engineering Development Foundation (EEF, 2013) and Environmental Ethics Foundation of Taiwan (EEFT, 2014).

However, given the diversity of satoyama practitioners and their various backgrounds and objectives, by the end of 2014, the nation-wide promotion of the Satoyama Initiative in Taiwan was facing some challenges, which included:

• The need for a comprehensive policy and strategic planning to connect at the time scattered satoyama-related activities across various themes, localities and stakeholders under the guidance of a government institution;
• The need for knowledge enhancement and academic studies to elicit a comprehensive analysis and discussions of domestic on-the-ground activities as well as to channel Taiwan’s experiences internationally;
• The need for a capacity building mechanism to organise workshops and other kinds of training activities for on-the-ground practitioners to facilitate mutual learning and exchange of experiences;
• The need for good practices in line with the three-fold approach of the Satoyama Initiative in the form of analytical reports on detailed planning processes, management frameworks and implementation outcomes to share with international and domestic audiences.

As a way to address the above challenges, in 2014, NDHU proposed the first draft of the National Strategic Framework for Promoting the Satoyama Initiative in Taiwan. In early 2015, the Strategic Framework of Taiwan Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (TPSI) was adopted by the Forestry Bureau. This historic moment paved the way for a new chapter in Taiwan’s satoyama story.