The coastal zone, situated at the sensitive interface between land and sea, serves as a pivotal area of human economic activities. As one of China’s economic special zones, Xiamen exemplifies the comprehensive trajectory of coastal governance in China. However, there are still research gaps in the human ecological transitions in coastal governance. This study adopts the research approach of scale politics and the local state, with the purpose of explaining the governance model of the coastal zone transformation. Sources include interviews with fishers, direct observation, participant observation, and content analysis. The study demonstrates how local governments strive to maximize the profits of scenic tourism, by (1) appropriating the international scale, absorbing international aid and technical assistance; (2) confiscating the access rights of the coastal zone; and (3) vertically integrating all relationships from local to international organizations to create new governance patterns. Xiamen’s coastal landscape not only presents the meltdown of human ecology under local state governance but also demonstrates a keen adaptation to the shifting dynamics of the international tourism market. From the theoretical perspective of the local state, this paper effectively points out the political characteristics of local government and bridges the loss of cultural ecology in the transformation of governance patterns.

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In Taiwan’s forest environment, the type closest to people’s living area is the protection forest, which mainly has the aims of regulating, supplying, and supporting, in those of the ecosystem services (ES). In recent years, due to the people’s demand for being close to nature and relieving stress, protection forests have become venues for people’s sports and leisure activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between public perceptions of the value of ES and mental health benefits, so as to adjust the Taiwan’s management policy towards its protection forests. Our research site is the Zhunan Protection Forest on the western coast of Taiwan. In total, 355 questionnaires were issued, and 301 of those were deemed valid. The results showed that (1) people have a high perception of the ES, in which supporting and regulation values were higher than cultural and provisioning values. Education could enhance the perception of ES. (2) For the people who have exercise habits and live near protection forests, their “compatibility” of PRS was higher than for other people. (3) People who live around protection forest areas had a higher positive mood and lower negative mood, which could have healthier mental effects. (4) People’s perceptions of ES were related to PRS dimensions. The higher ES values people were also more likely to participate in exercise in the forest, achieving good mental health. The results are discussed with relevant literature and provide suggestions for follow-up research for revising forest protection management policies.

Taiwan’s near-mountain alluvial plain is a high-risk area with frequent disasters, and residents have become more tolerant of the compound disasters that occur with overall environmental changes associated with the development of urbanization in recent years. This paper presents a case study of a near-mountainous alluvial plain in Southern Taiwan. The Hakka ethnic group is the main community in the study area and also the main research object. This case study illustrates the disaster resilience of the community to natural and artificial disasters. This study adopted two research approaches, namely historical geography and political economic geography, as well as community resilience theory. Research methods including case study, secondary literature analysis, fieldwork, and interviews were used. Through text analysis, it was found that (1) the community’s awareness of disaster avoidance was rooted in the experience of reclamation in the early 17th century; (2) communities have experienced artificial disasters caused by political and economic intervention, which have been transformed into disaster awareness and community resilience; (3) cumulative artificial disasters have a greater impact on communities than unpredictable natural disasters; and (4) the energy of community resilience and agricultural regeneration is based on the duality of disasters.

In postmodern societies, the touristic consumption of symbols of identity contributes to the formation of national identities. The purpose of this study was to examine residents' and tourists' perspectives on the meanings attached to and impacts caused by heritage tourism development. Data collected through structured interviews and field observations in Lu-Kang, Taiwan revealed that the local heritage is seen as personally meaningful not only by local residents and culture brokers but also by domestic visitors. Tourism development is reported to bring economic and cultural revitalization but is also blamed for crowding, commercialization and environmental pollution. Lu-Kang, is thus a space for the dissemination of extant symbols of a Desinicized national identity; symbols that accentuate Taiwan's history of colonization and ethnic diversity, and that situate the nation's origin with the arrival of migrants from the Mainland.