Sustainable livelihoods with fishing and farming by the Dipit Revival Tribe / Dipit 復興部落 (Taiwan)

 

 

The community and local perspectives on conservation and stewardship

 

Xinshe Village is located on the east side of Hualien Coastal Mountains. Average annual rainfall of 2 900 mm flows through streams in the middle of the valley and lower reaches of the forests year after year, and then towards the Pacific Ocean. There are two tribes located in the upper and lower reaches: the revival community based on the water source, is dominated by the Ami tribe. The rich agricultural and cultural connotations of the Xinshe community, which is dominated by the Kavalan tribe, rely on the sea for food.

 

Xinshe Village’s “Sin-Chuan-Li-Hai” platform is aimed at promoting the restoration of the water terrace environment in Xinshe Village, seeking to balance and maintain local biodiversity and the sustainable use of resources. The specific content includes preserving the health of the land, ensuring natural resources are use sustainably, promoting the traditional wisdom of rural/indigenous tribes,  and promoting community-based teamwork, to support the community and local economy.

 

Stewardship experience: Living in harmony with nature, a sustainable village

 

The issue or problem being addressed

The local environment needs protection and conservation.

 

The conservation/stewardship activities

The members of the community with multiple stakeholders participating in the platform divide labor and cooperate to promote ecological agriculture, paddy field restoration, landscape diversity, forest protection and sustainable use of forest products, rural regeneration, ecological engineering, restoration of indigenous culture, environmental education, work on ecology and green tourism, and starting a long-term investigation and monitoring to evaluate local biodiversity in land and sea environments, forestry and fisheries, and enhancing the resilience of landscapes/seascapes.

 

The benefits/impacts including sustainability/environmental effects

At present, tribal residents’ environmental protection efforts have resulted in increased local biodiversity.

 

Connecting the Ami and Kavalan tribes with advocates to talk about multiple stakeholders and uses has increased local understanding of the need for conservation, contributing to more sustainable use of resources and active villages motivated to help support rural residents’ livelihoods and the conservation of local biodiversity.

 

 

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Fishery Facts

(Below are the applicable categories of fisheries, environment, species, gear type and livelihood role.)

 

Fishery characteristics:

• Marine capture fishery (e.g. nearshore/coastal/reef-based/deep sea)
• Inland capture fishery (e.g. river/ lake/ reservoir)

The environment where fishing takes place: 

• Open ocean
• Coastal – estuarine
• Freshwater – riverine

Main species targeted:

• Crustaceans
• Other animals (e.g. jellyfish/ sea cucumber)
• Algae, seaweed and other aquatic plants

Gear types/ methods used:

• Beach seine
• Dive
• Beach harvest/ gleaning (e.g. collection of shellfish/algae/mangrove crabs etc.)

Role of the fishery in local livelihoods:

• Occasional