Dingtugou Butterfly Village Introduction
Located at the junction of Shuishang Township and Taibao City in Chiayi County, Tuguo Village is composed of the upper and lower Tuguo communities. It is a typical rural area experiencing population outflow, primarily populated by the elderly and children, with an increasingly deteriorating living environment. The county government once considered establishing a landfill here, which triggered strong protests from villagers and raised their environmental awareness. Furthermore, in recent years, the government has actively promoted community development, and with the awakening of local residents, the Upper Tuguo community began its community building efforts in 1998. The village revitalized its environment by cleaning drainage ditches, planting water candles, and transforming the originally dirty and overgrown ditches into a clear stream with ecological traces. They also planted cotton trees and Bougainvillea to beautify the environment, which unexpectedly attracted the Common Mormon butterfly. Since cotton trees, also known as butterfly trees, secrete sweet nectar that provides food for butterflies, this drew them to Upper Tuguo, leading villagers to decide to plant cotton trees in large quantities to rehabilitate the butterfly population. As reported by the media, the village gained fame as "Butterfly Village." 1999 was the peak year for butterflies, and events such as "Butterflies Come to My Home" and "Castor Bean Festival" were held, attracting over 200 visiting communities and successfully raising the profile of Upper Tuguo Butterfly Village. However, in recent years, butterflies are no longer fluttering in the village due to the invasion of parasitic wasps, which have disrupted the butterfly ecosystem. These wasps parasitize the butterfly pupae, slowly consuming the butterfly larvae, resulting in bees hatching instead of butterflies. Although it's unfortunate, the aging rural image has undergone a transformation, giving the area a new rural ambiance and achieving the goal of environmental beautification. In 2006, the community received sponsorship from Sinyi Realty and subsidies from the Forest Bureau for community forestry. They planned to create a greenbelt ecological education park along the 1.8 kilometers of Taiwan Sugar Corporation's railway route connecting the upper and lower Tuguo communities. This project included the development of the "Butterfly Love Flower Path" that connects the two communities, as well as the "Spirit Logo of Leaping Butterflies," enhancing the community's multi-cultural ecological and recreational education functions, and aiming to provide the public with a better leisure destination for holidays.
