Lake Cimin, closed to hikers for four months, reopened to climbers yesterday. However, local Bunun people, dissatisfied that the new measures were introduced without their consultation, launched a non-cooperation movement. Yesterday, Reverend Kavas of the Lide tribe led nearly 20 students to hike without registering or paying fees, highlighting that Lake Cimin is part of the traditional territory of the Bunun people.
Lake Cimin has seen frequent hiking-related chaos due to the increasing number of visitors. During peak season, hundreds of hikers have entered the area simultaneously, causing serious damage to the alpine environment. The Taitung Forest District Office of the Forestry Bureau began closing the area last December to renovate hiking trails and mountain huts. It reopened yesterday with new measures including a visitor quota system and mountain hut fees—hikers must now reserve a hut before entering.
Yesterday, Kavas, along with about 30 others including Professor Liu Jiongxi of Taitung University, volunteers from the Legal Aid Foundation, and university fellowship students, went into the mountains to assert indigenous sovereignty. Kavas emphasized that the Bunun people have been active in the Lake Cimin area for over a century, yet the land has been taken over by the government. To highlight the traditional territory and call for indigenous awakening, they launched a non-cooperation movement of “no registration, no payment.”
Local highland porters expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the Forestry Bureau’s control measures failed to take them into account. Porters still have to compete with regular hikers in a lottery system for hut beds just to access the mountains—an unreasonable situation. Porters earn their living through physical labor but are now forced to rely on luck, which clearly threatens their livelihoods.
The Taitung Forest Bureau stressed that it respects the claims of the Bunun people. The new measures are currently in a trial phase, but the bureau hopes that local highland cooks and porters can first form an association to jointly coordinate operational methods, aiming for co-management of Lake Cimin with local stakeholders. Regarding the issue of bed allocations, the bureau acknowledged the need to reserve spots for local porters and is willing to communicate with the local community.