Deputy Minister of the Interior, Ma Shi-Yuan, attended the premiere of "Flight - Exploring the Life of Birds" today (July 12th) at the Spot Huashan Cinema in Taipei. In his remarks, Ma emphasized that Taijiang National Park plays a crucial role as a sanctuary for birds, providing a safe haven for feeding, nesting, and breeding. Directed by Liao Tung-Kun, the film took over two years to complete and captures the lives of up to 400 species of wild birds, offering Taiwanese audiences a deeper insight into the country's rich avian ecology. Flight has earned international acclaim, winning the Gold Award in the Nature & Wildlife, Film & Video Productions category at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and the Award of Excellence in the Nature/Environment/Wildlife category at the Accolade Global Film Competition. These prestigious awards not only recognize Taiwan's conservation efforts and the Taijiang bird ecology but also highlight the conservation achievements of Taiwan's national parks on the global stage, bringing worldwide attention to the island's ecological treasures.

In his remarks, Ma noted that Taiwan's national parks encompass diverse terrains and landscapes that are representative of Taiwan itself. Moving forward, efforts will continue not only to maintain conservation and promotion but also to utilize the exceptional natural conditions of national parks, wetlands, and coastlines to promote them as key natural carbon absorption areas in Taiwan’s 2050 net-zero transformation. These areas are also intended to serve as sources and bases for blue carbon and restoration projects, with expanded corporate participation in ecological conservation. The public is also encouraged to engage with national parks and recognize the importance of the environment in ecological conservation.

The Ministry of the Interior highlighted that the special screening was distinguished by the presence of several notable guests, including Director Liao Tung-Kun, Executive Vice President Prof. Shih-Torng Ding of National Taiwan University, Vice President for International Affairs of National Taiwan University Prof. Hsiao-Wei Yuan, Chairman Chin Heng-Piao of the Society of Subtropical Ecology, Chairman Tsao Hsien-Shao of the Society of Streams, R.O.C., Secretary-General Lu Yi-Wei of the Taiwan Wild Bird Federation, Executive Director Kuo Hsueh-Chen of the Jane Goodall Institute, and former Director-General Hsu Wen-Long of the Construction and Planning Agency, among others. These dignitaries came together to appreciate the beauty of the birds in flight and to express their shared hope that national parks will play a more active and impactful role in species conservation, cross-domain cooperation, environmental education, and the push towards net-zero transformation. They also voiced the importance of strengthening collaboration with the private sector to jointly safeguard national parks and their invaluable ecosystems.