Gaopingxi is the chief river of the largest drainage area in Taiwan; the bike path along its right side is also the longest path in the Greater Kaohsiung District. It begins from the Mangrove Educational Eco-Center located in the downstream “Shu-Lin District”, stretches through the Old- Iron-Bridge Wetland Park, and ends at the Cable-Stayed Bridge right next to Fo Guang Shan Monastery. Started in July 2015 by the Environmental Protection Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government in response to issues such as global warming, environmental pollution, typhoons and torrential rain disaster, sustainable development of urban rivers, streams habitat restoration and waterfront recreation. This project aims to achieve two major goals; to promote the establishment of conservation forest along river basin and the layout of a comprehensive and profound network of bicycle path and trail system. The introduction of such network would hopefully better connect many unique sightseeing opportunities and recreational resources that are currently isolated or spread out alongside the river, that it would also better guide both local residents and visitors to appreciate the various natural landscape, rich cultural and historical aspects of Gaopingxi. The project ultimately aims to bring more people and offers more diverse recreational opportunities. Land uses of the project area is mainly on riverbed basin and alongside the existing embankment that are governed by “The Seventh River Management Office, WRA, MOEA1''. Current conditions along the entire riverbank vary significantly because of diverse usages of riverbed basins, often include abuse or disturbance of existing natural conditions, resulting from frequently poor or improper decisions made from higher authorities, and lack of proper communications across these authorities. Hence, the key to the success of the project resides on sound coordination among different authorities for a consensus decision on the management and maintenance interface on proposed plans. Finally, areas on plans proposed in the project with more immediate benefits are selected first to proceed to the next stage of detail drawing work and ultimately built to serve as showcasing sites to promote the concept of making Gaopingxi a green ecological corridor.

Gaopingxi, ecological corridor, bike path, dust control, maintenance management