The Matai'an Wetland Ecological Park () is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

in Guangfu Township,

Hualien County Hualien County (Mandarin Wade–Giles: Hua¹-lien² Hsien⁴; Pīnyīn: ''Huālián Xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Hoa-lian-koān'' or ''Hoa-liân-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Fâ-lièn-yen''; Amis: ''Kalingko'') is a county on the east coast of Taiwan. It ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Name

''Matai'an'', which means tree bean, comes from the Matai'an tribe of the

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Ami people The Amis ( ami, Amis, Ami, Pangcah; ), also known as the Pangcah, are an indigenous Austronesian ethnic group native to Taiwan. They speak the Amis language (; ), an Austronesian language, and are one of the sixteen officially recognized Ta ...

who inhabit the area around the wetland. The wetland is also called the Fataan Wetland Ecological Park.

History

The area around the wetland has been used by the local tribe for farming and fishing. Recently, the area has been developed for tourism purpose where currently it has three inns.

Geology

The wetland is located at the foot of Mount Masi and spans over an area of almost 100 hectares. The wetland is formed by the flow of Fudeng River. The wetland consists of around 100 types of

water plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

s. It is also equipped with bicycle trail.

Ecology

Species found in this wetland are various aquatic fishes, amphibians, butterflies and shorebirds. There are also around 100 aquatic plants found in the pond. The number of butterflies spike during spring time.

Transportation

The wetland is accessible within walking distance southwest of Guangfu Station of Taiwan Railways.

References