The impression of Taiwan's forested mountain areas you have may change drastically after you visit Smangus village [of the Atayal minority in Hsinchu County]. The name Smangus, as yet unfamiliar to most people, refers to the people of a charming Atayal tribe [named after the original ancestor of the tribe, Mangus]. The village is situated in the mountains of Jianshi Township in Hshinchu County, at an altitude of 1,500 metres. There was no electricity until 1979, and no roads to the outside world until 1995; from very early on, however, they decided to protect their community with the slogan ¡¥No roads going straight to our village¡¦. What could be the reason for their reluctance to welcome tourists and avoid the lure of ¡¥the more the better¡¦?

A 30-year-old ¡¥elder¡¦ of the village, Yuraw, reminisces his childhood years when there was no electricity and roads. ¡§Life in the past was so simple with no pressures from the civilised world, just like in paradise. In mornings we would help family to plant rice and sweet potatoes, and in evenings the whole family would sit around the fire and have meals together, then listen to the calls of the flying squirrels before falling asleep¡K.¡¨

Even though life could be beautiful, the Smangus people still have to face the difficulties in villager¡¦s livelihood and education due to the lack of external communication system. Villagers had to carry heavy agriculture product on their back up and down by foot for sale. Their living essentials like rice, gas bottles, or even electrical goods like refrigerators and TV sets are also needed to carry into the village by manpower. Children had to cross the mountain to get to their school, which seemed close by on the peak facing their village, but took more than 6 hours on foot to reach.

In 1991, the Smangus discovered a grove of rare, giant cypresses. This set off a government-led drive to build roads into this area. But the villagers, reminded of what happened to Lala Mountain area (in Taoyuan County), where a large-scale invasion of tourists and conglomerates led to a destroyed environment, sat down together and decided that the roads could only lead up to the border of their village. Anyone who wants to see the divine trees will have to leave his car behind and walk several miles through nature and primeval forest, over small paths and stone steps.

Tourism has vastly improved the economic prospects of the tribe. But the villagers have entered a communal management system, in the hope of collectively preserving the resources on which they now depend for their mainstay; thus achieving their goal of sustainable development. The communal agreement includes several principles, such as not being allowed to arbitrarily open up land, to sell land whatsoever, or any conglomerates to stay in this area. Everything is based on the keystone ¡¥the tribe makes its own decisions¡¦. A suitcase full of cash has been offered by a capitalist in exchange for land, but these were flatly refused.

¡§This land has its own spirituality. Our ancestors came to live here over 1,000 years ago, and if we don¡¦t take good care of it, it¡¦s just going to bring shame to our people,¡¨ said Yuraw. At one time in the past, the tourists to Smangus ran up to 800 a day , which put great strain on the environment, and made the villagers very worried. ¡§Although this brings a huge influx of money in a short time, it will also cause serious damage to our environment. That¡¦s why we need to take each step very carefully. Eco-tourism can be developed but without turning our tribe into a tourist attraction,¡¨ said Yuraw. The tribe has decided to reduce the number of visitors staying over night to 370 at a time, and would like to further reduce this to 250 later on. Hostels will be replaced by wooden cottages in typical Atayal style.

Furthermore, the Smangus tribe has set up an ¡¥Environmental Ecological Authority¡¦ to carry out a five-year plan, during which the wildlife hunting and tree logging are prohibited. Young tribe members have formed a forest patrol team to do wildlife investigation and removing animal traps, as well as advising other tribes in the area to stop hunting.

Smangus has been called the ¡¥black tribe¡¦ in the past but is now enviably being called ¡¥God¡¦s tribe¡¦. More importantly, Smangus has been a successful case of operating ecotourism with a very different approach based on harmony between human and nature.