Abstract:
The Kenting National Park was established in 1984, and it is the first national park in Taiwan. The coastal environment and the high human population make it difficult to balance the environmental protection and local community development in the park. Unfortunately, the Kenting National Park Headquarters allocated most resources to biological and ecological studies during the past twenty five years. The lack of social science study, especially documenting and analyzing local people’s opinions on the management issues, blocks a communicate channel between stakeholders and managers. This study is a preliminary step to investigate how people view the park and their visions of a successful national park. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with four different stakeholder groups, local residents, tourism operators, tourists, and volunteer workers, in the Kenting National Park during the summer, 2009. The results show that different stakeholder groups have different perceptions of the park’s resources, problems and functions. Those different opinions have to be thoroughly considered in the future park management plans and strategies.
