Longluantan Lake Introduction
Longluan Lake is located at the southwestern corner of Hengchun Township. The lake spans an area of nearly 175 hectares and has an average depth of 3.5 meters, making it an important agricultural water management facility and the largest inland lake on the Hengchun Peninsula. Surrounding the lake are numerous fish ponds, grasslands, farmland, water bodies, and shrubs, creating a diverse natural environment that supports various species, making it an important habitat for birds. Conveniently situated along migratory routes, Longluan Lake attracts flocks of migratory birds seeking winter refuge every autumn and winter. During this period, aside from resident species such as the Purple Swamphen, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, and Black-crowned Night Heron, rare visitors like the Eurasian Coot, Mandarin Duck, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, waterfowl, Mallard, and gulls arrive as if attending an annual carnival, transforming the usually calm lake into a lively avian paradise. To preserve and showcase this precious scene, a Nature Center has been established on the western bank of Longluan Lake. This is Taiwan’s first exhibition center dedicated to avian ecology, offering dynamic bird-watching activities, along with static displays including images, specimens, videos, and presentations that provide an in-depth understanding of migratory routes, the breeding process and significance of birds, the interactions between birds and humans, and the impact of environmental changes on bird populations. Visitors can thus engage in a comprehensive educational experience about bird ecology. Additionally, Longluan Lake serves as a habitat for unique plant species. Due to the high diversity of plant species within the park, including many rare varieties, a special ecological park has been established to mitigate the risk of decline in plant populations caused by climate change and human activity. This park categorizes the vegetation based on their growth environments and applications, distinguishing areas for rare plants, bird-attracting plants, butterfly-attracting plants, montane plants, reef plants, hedge plants, grassland shrubs, ornamental flowering and fruiting plants, and coastal forests. This clearly demonstrates the richness of biological resources at Longluan Lake.
