**2. Case Background**

The focal social-ecological system studied in this paper is the Danungdafu Area (hereinafter referred to as DFA), Hualien County, Taiwan. The ecosystem included in the focal system is the Danungdafu plain forests, located in the middle of the East Rift Valley (23◦ 36 N, 121◦ 24 E), with the East Coastal Mountain Range in the east and the Central Mountain Range in the west, and with a total area of 1250 hectares. The social system encompasses the villages that are adjacent to, and have a close relationship with, the plain forests area, including indigenous communities (Tafalong, Fata'an, Fahol, Okakay, Sado) and communities where Han people, making up the majority of the population, and indigenous people live together (Daho, Fuhsing, Fuyuan, Galiwan; see Figure 1).

**Figure 1.** Danungdafu Area (DFA). The area enclosed by the red border is Danungdafu Forest Park. Red dots represent indigenous communities (Tafalong, Fata'an, Fahol, Okakay, Sado), and yellow dots represent Han–indigenous communities (Daho, Fuhsing, Fuyuan, Galiwan), where Han people comprise the majority of the population.

The DFA case is a particularly complex but representative case for the issue of the land and natural resource rights of indigenous peoples in Taiwan. Considering indigenous land and natural resource rights, the Western plains of Taiwan are currently mainly used by Han people with private land rights. Therefore, in terms of political reality, making these plains the main target of indigenous peoples' land movement is difficult. The central mountainous region, where mainly indigenous settlements

are located and most lands are designated as protected areas or state-owned forests, is generally considered to be, with less controversy, traditional territories of indigenous peoples. Issues in the Eastern plain region, especially the Eastern Rift Valley region, pose the greatest challenge. This was the final area taken by Han settlers and the modern state regime; many Han people moved to this area only at the end of the nineteenth century [28]. Today, eastern Taiwan remains the region with the highest proportion of indigenous people. In the Eastern Rift Valley area, numerous indigenous villages and Han-dominated communities are present. Over the past 100 years, the state nationalized a large proportion of lands in the area, lands which were once the traditional territories of indigenous peoples, and a considerable portion of the lands became private property in the process of privatization. These realities pose major challenges to the political claims of the indigenous "Return Our Land" movement and to the implementation of the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Policy that started in the first term of the current president, Tsai Ing-Wen, in 2016 [29].
