IC Broadcasting’s Island Symbiosis – Listening to Taiwan: Open up your five senses and experience nature – come to Guandu Nature Park to learn about the wetland environment

Guandu Nature Park is located within the embankment where the Tamsui River and Keelung River meet. It covers an area of about 58 hectares and is an important habitat for migratory birds in northern Taiwan, as well as an excellent spot for birdwatching.

When you come to Guandu Nature Park, not only will you be able to enjoy the verdant greenery and comfortable natural environment, but also observe the wetland biodiversity. Whether you are a student, an adult, or a senior, or maybe a family with young children or even a business, you can enter this environmental education base and open up your five senses to learn about the plants and animals of the wetlands and learn the wisdom of living in harmony with nature.

Wang Jou-Chien, Director of the Department of Environmental Education, Guandu Nature Park, pointed out that families with young children and students are the most important clientele of Guandu Nature Park. The park specially organizes the “Little Duck Tells a Story” activity for families with young children on Saturdays, to tell children what happens in nature in a lively manner through the warm and touching skits and the exciting adventures in the picture books. On the first and second Sundays of each month, there are parent-child DIY activities, using environmentally friendly or recycled materials, allowing parents and children to work together to make creative and practical items, as well as create fond memories of having fun together as family.

For students, Guandu Nature Park is an excellent wetland classroom. According to Director Wang Jou-Chien, students can properly interact with and experience nature when they come to the park. The park is also working together with the schools’ natural science curriculum for the elementary and middle school grades by designing different teaching themes. They are guided by professional teacher guides and the guided classes are linked to the school curriculum, so that learning is no longer just cold knowledge from textbooks.

A large-scale environmental education event - the “Guandu International Nature Art Festival”, is organized by the Guandu Nature Park at the end of each year. Artists come to the park and use natural materials to create works onsite, resulting in creations that guide visitors to see the connection between Guandu’s ecosystem and humans, convey the value of habitat creation and biodiversity, and further trigger awareness for environmental conservation. The theme of this year’s (2022) Guandu International Nature Art Festival is “Healing, A Methodology”, and will be officially launched on November 5.

Now, Ma Ming-Liang, a senior lecturer of Guandu Nature Park, will be leading us and the senior members of the Catholic Sanipax Socio-Medical Service and Education Foundation to go on a walk through the park to learn about the wetland environment. We will also learn about how Guandu Nature Park guides the public in a diverse and lively manner to understand the importance of ecological conservation, so that we can protect this beautiful wetland together.