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Niaosong Wetlands Park

◎English translation: Hou Ya-ting

◎Photos by Wang Jing-fei

　Niaosong Wetlands Park, originally a settling basin belonging to Taiwan Water Corporation, is located adjacent to Chengcing Lake, a popular sightseeing spot in Kaohsiung's Niaosong District. The wetlands park, an example of sustainable water usage, processes effluent water from The Grand Hotel Kaohsiung through circulation pools. The water then flows into a spillway gate at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.

　Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society manages and preserves Niaosong Wetlands Park. To raise public awareness of the wetlands, Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society organizes educational lectures and provides tour guides. Individual visitors are welcome to join free tours held on the second, third and fourth Sunday of each month. These start at 3:30 p.m. at the park's front entrance. Booking a spot in advance is advised; call Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society at (07)236-1086.

　While visitors amble through the wetlands park, the tour guides draw on their knowledge of nature and wetland ecosystems. Over the years, participants have been able to appreciate Niaosong Wetlands Park by birdwatching, taking nighttime tours, experiencing paddy-field cultivation, watching documentary films, and creating works of art. Nature lovers have expressed and recorded the ecology of this landscape. Various species in the wetlands park remain active through the winter, but sometimes nature is disguised in a pile of moist soil or beneath decaying leaves. Insects are a vibrant presence in every corner of the wetlands. The Brown-headed thrush is a typical winter visitor, and can be seen hunting insects. Meanwhile, beetle larvae play a key role in soil ecosystems. Moorhens feed on the water snowflakes which float in the ponds. Niaosong Wetlands Park witnesses a continuous cycle of living species, as decaying foliage fertilizes the environment for the next generation of insects and plants.

　The beauty of Niaosong Wetlands Park lies not only in its diverse ecology, but also in the unexpected and unlimited impressions it leaves upon visitors. Dibu Village, which is near the wetlands park, actually got its name from the area's soft, wet soil. In the days of old, residents often got their feet stuck in the ground when plowing their fields. However, Dibu's inhabitants never thought about abandoning the land; rather, they cultivated it, and it developed into today's agricultural community. Some of today's residents have no idea about this local history.

　These wetlands underscore the fact that human beings, animals and insects are all part of the food chain. The natural wonders we can glimpse at Niaosong Wetlands Park comprise a unique aesthetic that has come together over a long period of time.