Taijian National Park

Taijian National Park located in the southwest coast of Taiwan, is a national park of Taiwan. Taijiang National Park was established in 2009.

The majority of the park is within the city of Tainan. In total, the park’s planned area stretches from the southern sea wall of Qingshan Fishing Harbor to the south bank of Yanshui River and is mostly public coastal land. Main island Taiwan’s most western point, Guosheng Lighthouse, is within the boundaries of the park which measures 20.7 km (12.9 mi) north to south and has an area of 393.1 km2 (151.8 sq mi), of which land accounts for 49.05 km2 (18.94 sq mi). The marine area covers a band extending 20 metres (66 ft) from the shore and 54 km (34 mi) long from Yanshui River to Dongji Island, an area of 344.05 km2 (132.84 sq mi).

Tidal land is one of the most valuable treasure of the park’s coastal landscape. The land along the southern coast has a gentle gradient, and every year the rivers that run westward carry a large quantity of sand. For topographical and geological reasons the water flow slows dramatically when the rivers arrive to the sea. Gradually, the sand in the runoff is deposited around the river mouths. Over time, the works of wind, tide and waves causes the river mouth to gradually silt up and expand outwards, resulting in natural tidal land, or sand banks. In the park, a wide tidal flat has been formed close to the shore while a number of offshore sand bars have also been formed in the breaking wave area, creating a special coastal landscape.

Taijiang National Park has four main wetland areas: Zengwen River mouth wetlands, Sicao wetlands, Qigu Salt fields wetlands and Yanshui River wetlands, all of them have international ecological importance.