Shei-Pa National Park covers an area of 76,850 hectares on the central Taiwan range, slightly to the north of central Taiwan. This is a region of magnificent mountains: within the park are 51 peaks over 3,000 meters high. It is a mostly wild and undeveloped area with a range of wildlife that includes many rare and endemic species. The park was founded to protect and study this splendid wilderness, maintaining the natural environment and all forms of life it includes. Conservation is therefore the first priority for Shei-Pa National Park, and a large proportion of its land is protected as Conversation Area, or Special Scenic Area, with limited access for ordinary visitors.

Ground plan of Shei-Pa National Park
Under the National Parks Law, the parks are required actively to promote resource conservation, research, recreation and sustainability of use. To further the attainment of these ends, Shei-Pa National Park is divided into four types of management zone, with different levels of restriction and control over land use:
Conversation Area
Natural biotic communities and their habitats, which are strictly protected for ecological research. The unauthorized collection of specimens, the use of pesticides, and construction of any kind are forbidden.
Special Scenic Area
Areas of special natural features which could not be recreated, and in which development must be strictly controlled.
General protected Area
Areas of land and water not within other zone types, including existing small villages. Continuation of existing land use modes is permitted.
Recreation Area
Areas suitable for various outdoor leisure activities. The construction of recreational facilities and limited exploitation are permitted. The areas of this type are the Wuling, Guanwu, and Syuejian Recreation Areas.

Geography and Geology
This is a region of magnificent mountains: within the park are 51 peaks over 3,000 meters high, like Syue Mountain, Dabajian Mountain, Wuling Quadruple Mountains, and Jhihjiayang Mountain. The range of altitudes in the park is from 760 meters above sea level in the Da-an River Valley to 3,886 meters at the top of Syue Mountain.

The name, Shei-Pa, refers to two notable mountains in the park: Syue Mountain and Dabajian Mountain. Syue Mountain is the highest point of the Syue Mountain Range, which stretches northeast-southwest across Taiwan from Sandiaojiao to the Jhuoshuei River. At 3,886 meters, Syue Mountain is the second highest park in Taiwan, only a little lower than Jade Mountain, 3,952 meters, the highest mountain in Taiwan, or in all Eastern Asia. Syue Mountain is one of "Taiwan Quintuple Mountains." Dabajian Mountain, 3,492 meters, is considered one of Taiwan's natural wonders because of its astonishing, awe-inspiring shape. An old legend of the local aborigines, the Atayal, tells how the whole human race originated from a couple who came out of a rock at the base of the mountain. The Atayal venerated Dabajian Mountain and would not ascend it without special reason; it was not until 1927 that mountain climbers from other places began to go up it.

Fauna
Because of the diversity of vegetation within Shei-Pa National Park and the different climates and forest types produced by the range of elevations, from under 1,000 to over 3,000 meters above sea level, and because most of the park's area has not suffered from much human disturbance or destruction, the park provides animals with an abundant food supply, protection and suitable habitats. Thus, the area is rich in animal life and is home to many different species. Surveys have shown that there are at least:



Moreover, Taiwan has been separated from the Eurasian Plat for so long that many of the species and subspecies inhabiting the island are endemic, unique to Taiwan.
26 of these endemic species live in Shei-Pa National Park, some of them very rare, for instance Formosan Black Bear (Selenarctos tibetanus formosanus), Formosan Macaque (Macaca cyclopsis Swinhoe), Formosan Land-locked Salmon (Oncorhynchus masou formosanus), Mikado Pheasant (Syrmaticus mikado),and Swinhoe's Blue Pheasant (Lophura swinhoii).

If you want to know more information about Shei-Pa National Park, please click HERE http://www.spnp.gov.tw/english/about/about.html

Derived and adopted from Tourism Bureau Taiwan