By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Zhouzai Wetland Park (洲仔濕地公園) appears on both city and national tourism websites as one of northern Kaohsiung’s ecological attractions. It has not always been clear, however, how visitors are supposed to get inside.
People looking for the wetland beside Lotus Pond (蓮池潭) have encountered changing entry rules, areas that require registration or reservations, and official websites that provide different information.
Since July 24, the answer has become simpler: The entire park is closed for renovations.
The Kaohsiung Parks Office (高雄市政府工務局公園處) announced Aug. 13 that work is expected to finish in spring 2027. Its official visitor page says the reopening date will be announced after construction is completed.
Zhouzai was never intended to operate like an ordinary neighborhood park. Its visitor rules describe ecological protection as its priority and divide it into three sections.
The management and visitor service area has generally been the easiest to access. The environmental education area has operated under various registration or reservation systems, while the core conservation area remains closed to the general public and is available only for approved research.
Those restrictions protect birds and other wildlife, but they have also made the wetland unusually difficult to understand as a visitor attraction.
In late 2024, local councilors and residents complained that irregular opening times and an advance-reservation system meant few residents had seen much of the park.
Wetlands Taiwan (台灣濕地保護聯盟), which helps manage the site, disputed the idea that it was unused. The organization said the wetland received more than 20,000 visits a year, including more than 100 organized group and educational visits.
Access was subsequently expanded. The Parks Office website lists regular hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, with visitors able to register before entering the environmental education area.
Other official websites have not kept pace with those changes.
The Kaohsiung tourism website, last updated in 2022, still says weekday visitors must apply online, that only the management area opens on Saturdays and that wider public access is available on the first three Sundays of each month.
A Ministry of Environment listing, updated six days before the July 24 closure, still presents the wetland as open from Tuesday through Sunday.
The conflicting information helps explain why some visitors have been unsure whether the wetland is open, requires a reservation, or can be entered at all.
The current closure is part of a broader attempt to make the nearly 20-year-old park safer and easier to use.
According to the city’s renovation announcement, work will include the entrance plaza, surrounding sidewalks, interpretation center, accessible facilities, and teaching pond.
Paths, wooden platforms, ecological ponds, the birdwatching tower and wall, and self-guided information displays will also be replaced or upgraded.
The wetland-side sidewalk is closed during construction. Pedestrians have been advised to use the sidewalk beside Lotus Pond instead.
Zhouzai was developed from former water-caltrop fields as part of an effort to restore wetland habitat and encourage pheasant-tailed jacanas and other waterbirds to return to urban Kaohsiung. It was recognized as a nationally important wetland in 2007.
For now, the park is closed.
If construction remains on schedule, the physical work should finish in spring 2027. The city has not yet announced when the public will be allowed back or what entry system will apply after the renovation.
