A Journey to Seek the Best Partners

Trail maintenance is ultimately the responsibility of the ranger. But NPS rangers’ scope of duties is vast, “embracing both mountains and sea”, and many places humans rarely go. Daily forestry operations and emergency services in parks like SNPH heavily depend on the limited labor such personnel can provide. As a result, trail adoption programs become that much more crucial; hikers may provide assistance during their hikes and help to jointly guard the mountains and forests.

To the understaffed SNPH, the workload for maintaining eight trails can be quite overwhelming. In the past, only a scant few hiking groups have adopted trails, and so trail cleanliness and maintenance depended on hikers’ self-discipline. Hsieh Ming-Chuan, SNPH Planning and Management Section Chief, describes the challenges he has encountered in the past when seeking external resources: “In fact, for a lot of tasks such as ecological conservation, environmental education, and hiking safety, SNPH requires resources and support from external enterprises and organizations. But we had no idea where to seek these partners.”

In October of 2024, though, a turning point emerged with the official launch of the SNPH’s “ESG Public-Private Collaboration Platform”.

Shei-Pa National Park Action Plans Open for Collaboration / provided by SNPH

On the platform hosted on the SNPH official website, many ongoing initiatives and concerns are clearly shown. These include the Formosan SalmonConservation and Education project; the Broad-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly Conservation Project; Indigenous cultural festival and Indigenous school environmental education; Shei-Pa forest canopy conservation education; Climbing Facilities Maintenance and Safety Education program; and more. “From then on,” Hsieh continues, “SNPH began getting requests for corporate collaborations. We predict that we will reach nearly 20 collaborating partners in the different SNPH initiatives by the end of 2025, representing a twofold increase.”

Chang Shun-Fa, then Chief of Recreation Management Division of NPS, cuts to the heart of the issue: “Almost every Headquarters experiences budget and staffing constraints. But we can extend beyond these capabilities to serve as an intermediary, helping facilitate partnerships between businesses and headquarters through matchmaking. With the trend of sustainability, enterprises and organizations are more willing to invest resources in these kinds of initiatives. Partnering with like-minded parties not only provides tangible support but also boosts staff morale.”

In light of this, the NPS, allocated resources to set up a corporate partnership section on its website. This section of the website went online on September 1, 2025, comprehensively introducing the national parks’ values and missions. There are six major areas for corporate collaborations: Habitat Maintenance and Restoration; Species Conservation and Restoration; Eco-Schools; Facility Maintenance; Visual Marketing and Promotion; and Other Collaborations. All past and ongoing collaboration achievements as well as projects awaiting collaborating partners are listed under this section.

The Platform Is the Means; Trust Is the Core

The greatest challenge in corporate collaborations lies not in resource availability, but rather in establishing mutual trust.

“Do you need people or money?” This seemingly simple question reflects both sides’ fundamental attitudes and hopes for collaboration. Hsieh confesses that every collaboration, even when it’s one initiated by an enterprise, has its challenges: “Once the partnership negotiations begin, we must clearly, specifically express the core value of each collaboration.” A prime example is St. Stone Gold. This company reached out after they felt a resonance with the store of SNPH’s successful restoration of Taiwan’s national treasure fish, the Formosan Landlocked salmon . Over the course of 30 years, these fish have gone from a critically-endangered population count of 283, to over 18,000 – a 60-fold increase. St. Stone Gold reached out in hopes of producing gold coins and bars imprinted with the image of this iconic species.

The collaboration with St. Stone Gold started off as just a licensing deal. However, during the partnership negotiation process, as SNPH approached the matter from a sustainability perspective, and explained the importance of species conservation efforts in Taiwan. The company was so impressed that eventually they resolved to make annual donations of NT$500,000 for the conservation of the Formosan Landlocked salmon.

The collaboration with St. Stone Gold initially seemed like nothing more than a simple licensing deal. However, during the negotiation process, SNPH approached the discussion from the perspective of sustainability, explaining in depth the importance of various conservation efforts to Taiwan’s native species. In the end, the company was moved and decided to make annual donations of NT$500,000 to support the conservation of the Formosan salmon.  

Beyond the mere monetary sums, this funding holds a profound underlying significance. The funding supports demographic survey studies of upstream populations in Hehuan Creek and Qijiawan Creek, as well as habitat restoration at their sources. “We invite companies to bring their employees along and participate in fish stocking activities,” says Hsieh. “By personally getting the experience of relocating these national treasure from water-deprived areas to headwaters, employees get to see the impact of corporate investment in conservation initiatives, first-hand.” 

Not all corporate enthusiasm can be successfully turned into concrete action, though. On the same topic of salmon restoration, a company proposed a BOT project to construct a large restoration center, akin to an aquarium. However, the endeavor failed due to its massive scale and operational complexity. As Chang re-examines the proposal, he acknowledg-es that not every conservation task is appropriate for corporate participation . Therefore, before any partnership negotiations begin, NPS or the specific park headquarters has to brief the company first, while also understanding its strengths and core competencies, and considering the viability of collaboration to increase the chances of success.

Move Swiftly, Think Slowly

“True collaboration can only happen when companies identify with these values,” says Chang. “Put another way, if all we talk about is doing business, the negotiations almost always fall apart.” Chang, who frequently connects businesses with headquarters, reflects: “With the S3 (IFRS S3 nature-related disclosure standard) framework announcement approaching, we are aiming to use the platform to bring together the conservation issues and collaboration opportunities brought up by the NPS and the specific headquarters, all in one place. This will help companies select and participate in green action plans that align with their needs. This way, even small and medium-sized enterprises can participate through small investments.”

Finding a partner, however, is only the beginning of the journey. The key to success and deepening the long-term benefits is defining the scope of the col-laboration and mutual interests through a MOU. Additionally, companies must understand and accept that the results of many conservation efforts may take time and may fall short of their expectations. “Though we make an estimation of the preliminary results,” Chang notes, “the final results of each study or project may still be affected by uncontrollable factors in nature.” Chang shares from his experience that companies are willing to sign an MOU only when they recognize ecological conservation as a longterm undertaking and trust that the implementers will take all feasible measures to minimize ecological risks.

[Website] National Parks Thematic Website - Projects Seeking Partnership

Traveling The Path of Rebirth for Southern Corals, Together

Another good example of public-private partnerships is the coral restoration project carried out at Kenting National Park Headquarters (KNPH) for over 40 years. Over that time, many different corporate collaboration models have been used. Encompassing virtually the essence of public-private collaboration, they now stand as a reference. Approaches such as addressing funding gaps for coral conservation, and empowering employees to become coral conservation advocates through hands-on experiences, can be replicated infinitely within future species conservation work. For this reason, when a corporation reaches out to express interest in coral restoration, KNPH’s first step isn’t to jump in and say “Yes!”, but rather, to get ready for an in-depth discussion.

For example, prior to signing an MOU with Mingtai Insurance recently, KNPH explained in its presentations that the abandoned Nanren Fishing Harbor near Xuhai in Pingtung was selected as a location for outplanting heat-resistant coral fragments. This was primarily due to the harbor’s limited exposure to ocean currents and adverse weather, which would improve the success rate. Chang emphasizes, “We must clearly communicate what we are doing and how the company can help us. We need to have mutual consensus before we can go further.”

Corals being secured onto the reef platform with cement / Provided by Kenting National Park Headquarters. / provided by KNPH (Authorized by Fan Tong-Yun, Researcher, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium)

Divergent opinions are inevitable within an organization. For this reason, ecological and environmental education collaborations were crucial as a means to educate every employee about the coral restoration, and to help them understand how valuable every single coral is. The process offered them an insight into the different collaboration models that are possible for coral restoration. Coral restoration largely depends on the company’s support and hiring experts who can assist in identifying suitable sites and restoring habitat quality. It’s not about requiring employees to dive for coral planting themselves. Before concluding the session, prior achievements were presented. When employees saw how a barren reef was transformed over the course of a year into vibrant, colorful array of corals, this was far more compelling than any KPIs in an annual report. It was only at that point that the project could proceed to signing and implementing the MOU, and specifying the expected count of corals to be propagated and outcomes to be anticipated.

Post–coral outplanting documentation photo. / provided by KNPH (Authorized by Fan Tong-Yun, Researcher, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium)

Sustainability Initiatives That Span Mountains and Seas

The NPS’ Public-Private Collaboration Platform elevates habitat and species conservation stories from official documents to societal practice. Putting corporate strengths to work, the platform amplifies impacts through environmental education, eco-schools, and public screenings of documentary footage. The platform also highlights the importance of major environmental and cultural issues by promoting local revitalization initiatives and tribal village tourism that helps preserve Indigenous traditions. Chang and Hsieh speak with one voice: “With so many collaboration models possible, the platform serves as the most convenient gateway for companies to initiate sustainability efforts.”

We look forward to more corporate partners joining the ranks of the National Park ESG Friends / provided by NPS