Activists collected more than 10,000 signatures on a petition urging Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to protect the area.
Environmentalists' aggressive action has caused a violent reaction among residents living in the area. When the government began razing illegal buildings last June, angry residents allegedly assaulted conservationists standing to the side, including Li Ken-cheng (
Officials with the Kaohsiung City government said that they have encountered difficulties for years in managing the park.
"We wanted to get land from Taiwan Cement Corporation (台灣水泥公司) to build an official gate in order to limit the amount of visitors, but failed," said an official of the city's Bureau of Reconstruction, who wished to remain anonymous.
One of Taiwan Cement's sites located by the mountain has mined limestone from the area for decades and more recently served as a blockade to visitors.
Officials with the Bureau of Reconstruction told the Taipei Times that all they could do now was to maintain old pavilions and build new footpaths for visitors.
An NT$12 million project was initiated last year; a new 500m-long footpath and four pavilions will be finished by October this year, the officials said.
Conservationists say that the over-exploited park will suffer further damage still if the government fails to either come up with a better scheme to manage the park or else educate the public.
Activists with the Takao Hill Park Association decided to rescue the mountain in their own way.
In recent years, they have trained dozens of volunteers to explain the local ecology to visitors. In April, they plan to target elementary students by holding workshops around the Kaohsiung area.
"Educated children might be more influential. They can spread ecological concepts to their teachers, parents, and friends," said the park association's Yang.
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