After Heping Island Park was placed under Northguan National Scenic Area Administration in 2013, it took eight years to turn the park into a sustainable demonstration tourist attraction. In 2021, Heping Island Park won the "19th Golden Thumb Awards for PPP" Government Team Award from the Ministry of Finance. In 2022, the "Renewal of Keelung Heping Island Park" project won the "2022 IFLA Asia-Pac Landscape Architecture (LA) Awards (Culture and Traditions Category) - Outstanding Awards. It was also the first Sustainable Activity Management National Tourist Attraction in Asia to be UK National Standards Institution BSI certified ISO 20121.
Based on the concept of "Conservation first, education and academic research second and business third," the Northguan National Scenic Area constructed Heping Island Park as an "International Sustainable Tourism Island" and focused on four development areas. “Landscape Conservation, Environmental Education, Landscape Tourism and Community Participation" are the highest guiding principles for the development of Heping Island Park, and it is also coordinates with the international community by joining the Geopark Network.
Heping Geopark has been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as an environmental education facility and effectively become an outdoor school. According to Article 19 of the Environmental Education Act, institutions, state-run businesses and institutions, senior high schools and lower, and statutory bodies that receive over 50% of their funding from the government are required to formulate environmental education programs every year to promote environmental education, with all employees, teachers, and students attending environmental education program for a minimum of four hours.
As such, anyone who wants to carry out environmental education, enhance environmental awareness, environmental ethics and responsibility, work to maintain environmental ecological balance and become a well-educated environmental citizen, can first go to the Heping Island Park website (hpipark.org). Programs available include "Island Tour Itinerary" and the "Environmental Educational Slow Island Tour Series," which have been established as an experiential environmental educational itineraries by Northguan National Scenic Area, Jk-Goods International Co., Ltd. and Friendly Seed Social Enterprise. These offer activities that include the "Wave and Legend of Sea Women" and "Rock Guardian," as well as interesting environmental experiences such as " Island ‘Slow’ Fishing," "Secret Tidal Realm," "Guarding Mother Ocean," "Little Ocean Scientist" etc.
Heping Island Geopark
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