The Making of a Place

Columnar Basalt Geopark and Earth Heritage Conservationin Peng-hu

Hung-Fei Lei

Shin Wang

Ling-Yuh Sheu

Two Objectives

• Evaluating the aesthetic qualities of the landscape in Peng-hu

• Linking landscape evaluation with designation and management in Penghu

http://www.mytravelguide.com/travel-tools/maps/Far-East-Asia-map.php

30 minutes

1 hour

Photographer: Shin Wang

Photographer: Jun-Chuang Lin

Photographer: Shin Wang

Photographer: Shin Wang

Photographer: 張詠捷

Ever before 17th the pirates’ bases

After defeated in 1659, Jeng the Great Wood with his navy from Kinmen

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Jan Feb Mar Api May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Rainfall (mm)Potential evapotranspiration (mm)

Temperature (。C)Maxium daily windspeed (m/sec)

Annual climatic conditions (1980-1990; source: Peng-hu county)

1.6~2.5 metre

< 1 metre

5 ~ 6 metreDepends on the size of the farm

Vegetable House

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50

100

150

1970 1980 1990 2000

year

Service (%)Industry (%)Others (%)Total population (in thousand)

The trend of population and industries in Peng-hu

(source: Peng-hu county)

Peng-hu national scenic area

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1.00

2.00

3.00

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5.00

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7.00

8.00

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

year

relativelypopulation(refering to

those in 1970)

Cattle

Pig

Sheep

Chicken

Duck

The population of domesticated animals in Peng-hu

(source: Peng-hu county)

Modernisation of fishery industry and over-fishing in Peng-hu

(source: Peng-hu county)

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10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

year

population in fishery industrytotal fishery products (in tone)total fishery ships (in tone)

modernisation

Peng-hu national scenic area

What is landscape aesthetics?

• The rhythm of form (patterns)

• The metaphor of form (meaningful form)

• Association of meaningful forms

• Symbols and emotions

Methodology (step 1: identifying)

Types of landscapes

that can be identified in the given geographical area

Methodology (step 2: evaluating)

• Unity

• Vividiness

• Diversity

• Scarcity

• Integrity

unity

• A landscape having all its elements and components associated well to denote a clear metaphor and/or an abundant culture meaning is called a high unity landscape.

• The higher the unity is, the clearer the landscape identity is.

• Normally if a landscape has a clear boundary with all components linked systematically with each other and with a clear pattern toward our senses, then it has a high unity.

Photographer: Jun-Chuang Lin

vividness

• Vividness of a landscape is high, when the landscape is in action.

• Landscape with high relief and/or on the transitional zone of different domains often shows dramatic geological and/or ecological processes in time and space.

Photographer: Shin Wang

diversity• Diversity is a term borrowed from ecology.• When the diversity of landscape is high, it ofte

n implies a high diversity in wildlife species, but not always the case.

• Natural history is the key factor in shaping the diversity.

scarcity• For the landscape which is scarce on the earth

and has significant meaning for the culture and/or the nature, its scarcity is high.

integrity

• A beautiful landscape may be a complete demonstration of all complex natural and/or cultural interactions that we can find out in a given region. It, then, has relative high integrity and can be used as a showcase of the region.

• For constructing a geopark, such an aesthetic quality is a key factor for searching a place of litter disturbance with the consideration of the balance between economic development and environmental conservation. It is particularly important for an area, such as Penghu, where population and land use intensity are relatively high.

• A landscape of high integrity always means that the landscape preserves relative good record of local history of the nature and the culture.

north islands

zone

south islands

zone

main island zone

Inner sea

zone

Hsiao-men-yu

Tong-pan-yuWang-an

Ci-mei

Ji-bei-yu

Kuei-be-shan

What is hidden behind?

• Environmental knowledge

• Social consciousness

• Politic-economical controls

Geopark and management

• A designation for research and education

• A designation for protection

• A designation for avoiding conflicts

• A designation for getting the new meaning of the landscape

• But, as a tool, geopark is not everything

Environmentsunder the politic-economic controls

• A construction of meaning• A potential markets• A continuous management• A continuous dialogue with the

environment around• A reconstruction of administration culture

and democracy

conclusion

• Incomplete methodology

• Toward a politic-economy of environmental management