Butterfly Valley Conservation Area

Update: The pictures and the explanations are seeming to dislike each other in some browsers. They may not line up depending on what machine you are at. It seems that the screen we get when posting is emphatically different than that which comes out as the published piece. The snake is obviously the green thing, the tree the tree like thing, etc!

Weekend away at Butterfly Valley Conservation Area. See here for more!


Taiwan, once dubbed the Kingdom of Butterflies, has suffered what most would consider an indicative decline in species density. One of the teachers that works here was instrumental in getting the Butterfly Conservation area established, and is himself a well respected naturalist. He explained Taiwans plight to me and the tune goes soemthing like this:

Massive endemic population of butterflies , the island a vital migratory route, greatest biodiversity of butterflies in the Asian region. High diversity, increasing populations - Taiwan was a butterfly sanctuary on evolutionary time scales.

Heavy industrialization, roadway infrastructure development and habitat loss followed the development of the island. Forests cut down, where the landscape would allow forestry, increased urbanization blanketed the west coast with concrete, and massive highways - again on the west coast - fragmented habitats and interrupted migratory routes. The Kingdom of Butterflies soon became the "Fragmented Remnants of the Kingdom of Butterflies".

So, many people put their heads together and sought an answer. And an answer they found. They, local naturalists and concerned citizens, developed a grassroots movement to protect land and habitat in one of the most precarious and precious butterfly regions - the FuYuan River Valley. The governemt established a rudimentary conservatin area but this was not to be a cure. It was merely just a sign on the road and a blotched out area on the map. Nothing really definitive to protect habitat. Then, as monetary concerns drove governmental decisions, it was rendered too expensive to continue. This is where the people stood up. A few bought it outright from the government (the gov't actually liquidated many of their ecological and cultural areas to private interests in a cost saving direction....time will tell how this plays out) and established a top notch conservation area. It is technically a 'resort', but that is only because there is a hotel on the premisis. Everything else drips with butterfly conservation. And the butterflies are a plenty, they are diverse and they have a significant (sorry, stats folks...i used a cuss word..I know!) ecological role here on the island. It is really a beautiful place, with both controlled environments, wild spaces and a vast region of untouched forest. It seems to be working.

We took a day trip here - it is but 30 km from our house - and hiked, explored, investigated and at times just stood there and watched fluttering beauties around us.

Tree fern, in picturesque light

We stopped at RueiSuei hotsprings on teh way home for a hot dip to soothe our bodies and ...because it is so close to home and so much fun!

Bamboo snake found along the trail. Second most venomous snake in Taiwan. It was totally motionless for the entire time we watched it, and then we came back 30 min later and it still had not moved!! Stealth....lazy....?

This picture is actually a mosaic of butterfly wings found on already dead butterflies!