Dingtu Stream Butterfly Village Introduction
Located at the junction of Shuishang Township and Taibao City in Chiayi County, Tuguo Village is composed of the Upper Tuguo and Lower Tuguo communities. It is a typical rural area experiencing population outflow, with only elderly residents and children remaining, and the living environment is deteriorating. The county government once considered establishing a landfill here, which sparked strong protests from villagers and awakened their environmental awareness. In recent years, with the government's strong promotion of community development and the awakening of local residents, the Upper Tuguo community began community construction in 1998. The community worked to improve the village environment, rehabilitated drainage ditches, and planted butterfly bushes to transform the originally dirty and weed-infested ditches into clear streams with ecological footprints. They also planted cotton and other plants to beautify the environment. The appearance of the Common Crow butterfly was an unexpected outcome; since the butterfly bush secretes sweet nectar, it provides food for the butterflies, attracting them to visit Tuguo. Consequently, villagers decided to plant butterfly bushes in large quantities to rejuvenate the butterfly population, and under media coverage, the name "Butterfly Village" quickly spread. In 1999, the butterfly population peaked, and activities such as "Butterflies at My House" and "Rapeseed Festival" were organized, attracting more than two hundred communities for visits, successfully promoting the fame of Upper Tuguo Butterfly Village. However, in recent years, the butterflies have stopped fluttering due to parasitic wasps that have harmed the butterfly ecosystem. These parasitic wasps invade butterfly cocoons and slowly consume the caterpillars, resulting in honeybees hatching instead of butterflies. Although this is unfortunate, the image of the aging village has been transformed, bringing a new rural atmosphere and achieving the goal of beautifying the environment. In 2006, the community received sponsorship from Hsin Yi Realty Community for the 95th year and community forestry subsidies from the Forestry Bureau. They focused on constructing an ecological education park along the 1.8-kilometer sugar industry road that crosses between the Upper and Lower Tuguo communities, connecting the "Butterfly Love Trail" around the villages, and establishing a "Spirit of Butterflies" logo, enhancing the community's multifunctional cultural ecology and recreational education, and hoping to provide a better leisure destination for the public on weekends.
