Using Remote Sensing Technology on the Delimitation of the Conservation Area for the Jianan Irrigation System Cultural Landscape

In recent years the cultural landscape has become an important issue for cultural heritages throughout the world. It represents the "combined works of nature and of man" designated in Article 1 of the World Heritage Convention. When a landscape has a cultural heritage value, important features should be marked and mapped through the delimitation of a conservation area, which may be essential for further conservation work. However, a cultural landscape’s spatial area is usually wider than the ordinary architectural type of cultural heritage, since various elements and impact factors, forming the cultural landscape’s character, lie within a wide geographic area. It is argued that the conservation of a cultural landscape may be influenced by the delimitation of the conservation area, the corresponding land management measures, the limits and encouragements. The Jianan Irrigation System, an historical cultural landscape in southern Taiwan, was registered as a living cultural heritage site in 2009. However, the system’s conservation should not be limited to just only the reservoir or canals, but expanded to irrigated areas where farmland may be the most relevant. Through the analysis process, only approximately 42,000 hectares was defined as a conservation area, but closely related to agricultural plantations and irrigated by the system. This is only half of the 1977 irrigated area due to urban sprawl and continuous industrial expansion.