Taipei’s Fuyan Ecological Park is to be featured in the film Sulfur of this Mountain (硫在此山中), a documentary exploring the historical relationship between the residents of northern Taiwan and the region’s sulfur minerals.
The film’s production team, Bronze Visual Art, said the settlements around today’s Taipei have coexisted with sulfur deposits for the past four centuries.
Fuyan was chosen because its military ruins and natural scenery embodies the power of change through time and expresses beauty, the team said.
Photo courtesy of Bronze Visual Art
The 3.8 hectare park is the city’s first ecological and educational conservation zone, boasting a natural, low-altitude forest and creeks in the otherwise urbanized Liuzhangli (六張犁) of Daan District (大安), the city’s Park and Street Lights Office Director Huang Li-yuan (黃立遠) said.
During the Japanese colonial period, the government built an ammunition depot in the area that was later handed over to the Republic of China’s military after the retrocession of Taiwan, he said.
Because the land’s use was restricted by the various militaries that controlled it, it was spared from urban development, Huang said, adding that it is now a habitat for a wide variety of trees and songbirds.
In 2006, the land was formally released to the office from the military, he said.
Nature lovers can enjoy sighting rare species that call the park home, such as Taiwan barbets, black bulbuls, black-naped monarchs, Taipei tree frogs and swallowtail butterflies, while history enthusiasts can visit the remains of military facilities, he said.
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