Taiwan Ecological Network (TEN) Construction Project

A comprehensive review of Taiwan’s terrestrial environments shows that forest ecosystems in the Central Mountain Range have largely been effectively protected through the national protected area system. However, approximately 60% of protected wildlife species and threatened plants still inhabit areas outside protected state-owned forests. These low-elevation mountains, plains, and coastal wetlands are often adjacent to densely populated urban areas. Facing habitat loss and fragmentation caused by infrastructure development and changes in agricultural land use, conservation efforts must move beyond the traditional model of protected areas and extend beyond state-owned forests. Thus, with the support from the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Agriculture, led by the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, has since 2018 promoted the “Taiwan Ecological Network (TEN) Construction Project” through cross-ministerial collaboration. Focusing on low-elevation mountains, plains, and coastal areas, the project seeks to reconnect and restore diverse habitats, thereby enhancing the resilience and adaptive capacity of ecosystems and Satoyama-type communities within these regions.

Through collaboration across sectors, the TEN Construction Project has identified key conservation areas across Taiwan. It extends biodiversity-based spatial planning from state-owned forests to the entire national territory, including low-elevation mountains and plains. By linking ecosystems such as hills, streams, plains, coasts, and offshore islands, the project has developed the necessary spatial data and conservation strategies to guide habitat restoration and landscape connectivity endeavors.

Under the spatial planning framework of the TEN, both public and private sectors are able to carry out targeted actions. By applying policy tools such as those involving ecological corridor establishment, vegetation restoration, environmentally friendly production, and eco-friendly engineering practices, related units can collaboratively promote and improve habitat restoration, connectivity, and management.

Project Objectives and Impact:

To strengthen Taiwan’s spatial planning strategies for ecological conservation by connecting key natural habitats—including low-elevation mountains, plains, agricultural land, streams, and coasts—thereby expanding the ecological corridor of the Central Mountain Range and enhancing the ecosystem service benefits of state-owned forests in alignment with global biodiversity conservation goals
To enrich and integrate Taiwan’s diverse ecological data, and through the cross-sector collaboration mechanism of the TEN, support and guide the implementation of nature-based solutions in public construction projects, while aligning with national land-use planning and management strategies to advance sustainable national development
To integrate diverse stakeholders, develop place-based conservation tools, promote the participation of local communities and indigenous groups in conservation efforts, and establish localized operational guidelines for businesses participating in biodiversity endeavors, thereby fostering public-private collaboration to mainstream biodiversity

Taiwan Ecological Network (TEN)

Endeavor to build a sustainable environment for both people and nature.