Wugoushui Guardian Workshop

Wugoushui (五溝水), located in Wanluan Township (萬巒鄉), Pingtung County, is a very well-known Hakka settlement. In 2008, Wugoushui passed the requirements of the Pingtung County Cultural Assets Review Committee, becoming the first settlement in Taiwan to be registered and the first traditional Hakka settlement to be preserved. There are 19 well preserved traditional Hakka buildings here. The Wugoushui settlement exudes unique charm. In addition to its century-old history and culture, the pure natural ecology is a unique characteristic of this area. With the blessed canals and springs, it is an excellent natural environment, which is rich in a variety of aquatic animals and plants.

The Wugoushui area in Pingtung

(Image: FTV)

The Wugoushui Guardian Workshop (五溝水守護工作站) was established in the early years when residents of Wugou wanted their community to have diversified development and have a place that can serve as a communication bridge between the community and the government. With the help of the Wugoushui Guardian Workshop, many historical sites in this area, including the Liu's Ancestral Hall (劉氏宗祠) and Guanhai Mountain House (觀海山房), have been preserved intact. The workshop also invited a professional space design team to lead the residents in the settlement to learn about space creation and discuss the preservation and restoration of traditional buildings.

Historical sites in the Wugoushui area

(Image: FTV)

The focus of the workshop is not only repairs of the settlement’s buildings, but also ecological conservation, especially because the wetland is facing many challenges, including government intervention and development, the lack of consensus among local residents on development and conservation, and the threat of exotic species to native species. After the August 8, 2009 floods, the Pingtung County Government decided to widen the river channels in the Wugou River Basin to move the flood detention area. Many residents’ houses were originally built in flood-prone zones, so the residents were quite supportive of the government's river channel widening plan. That led to disagreements between the local residents and the Wugoushui Guardian Workshop, which opposed the project, arguing it would bring immeasurable damage to the wetland ecology.

Ecological conservation in the Wugoushui area

(Image: Hakka TV)

In order to persuade residents to stand on the same side as the workshop, its members set up the "Wugoushui Wetland School (五溝水濕地學校)" to provide ecological guided tours to outsiders, allowing residents to rediscover the preciousness of the wetland ecology around them, through the eyes of the outside world. The wetland school is staffed by wetland ecological researchers and villagers, and it regularly organizes water activities in the community, such as "Wugoushui Aquatic Plant Day (五溝水水草日)" and the river tubing which allow residents to walk into the wetland and get closer to the water canal.

In the future, the Wetland School will not only develop wetland tourism, but also integrate the natural environment of Wugoushui with the local Hakka settlement culture, in hopes of attracting people who really want to understand and get close to nature and developing in-depth eco-tourism. Wugoushui Workshop has stated that making good use of local natural resources can also revitalize the local area. It believes the development of tourism is not bad, but there must be proper management mechanisms to preserve the unique rural landscape and local cultural characteristics. It is hoped that the outdoor living space of the community can be well planned and the residents will be encouraged to participate, so as to continue to protect the water canal and its surrounding wildlife, so that the local cultural customs and ecological characteristics can be preserved and passed down to future generations.