Editing Geography of Taiwan (section)

== Natural resources ==
[[File:Abies kawakamii Chi-You.jpg|thumb|upright|Taiwan fir (''[[Abies kawakamii]]'')]]

Natural resources on the islands include small deposits of [[gold]], [[copper]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Taiwan Panorama |title=Chinkuashih's Gold Ecological Park brings history to life |url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18&post=24219 |access-date=3 December 2019 |agency=Taiwan Today |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) |date=17 July 2008 |archive-date=27 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227073511/https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18&post=24219 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[coal]], [[natural gas]], [[limestone]], [[marble]], and [[asbestos]].{{refn|name=World Factbook}} The island is 55% forest and woodland (mostly on the mountains) and 24% arable land (mostly on the plains), with 15% going to other purposes. 5% is permanent [[pasture]] and 1% is permanent crops.

Because of the intensive [[exploitation of natural resources|exploitation]] throughout [[History of Taiwan|Taiwan's pre-modern and modern history]], the island's mineral resources (e.g. coal, gold, marble), as well as wild animal reserves (e.g. deer), have been virtually exhausted. Moreover, much of [[Forestry in Taiwan|Taiwan's forestry resources]], especially [[Abies kawakamii|firs]] were harvested during [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese rule]] for the construction of [[Shinto shrine|shrines]] and have only recovered slightly since then. To this day, forests do not contribute to significant timber production mainly because of concerns about production costs and environmental regulations.

=== Agriculture ===
{{main|Agriculture in Taiwan}}
The few natural resources with significant economic value remaining in Taiwan are agriculture-associated. [[Sugarcane]] and [[rice]] have been cultivated in western Taiwan since the 17th century. [[Camphor]] extraction and sugar refining played an important role in Taiwan's exports from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.{{sfnp|Exec. Yuan|2014|p=304}} The importance of these industries declined mainly due to the reduction of international demand rather than the exhaustion of related natural resources.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Sophia Wu |title=Structural Change in Taiwan's Agricultural Economy |journal=Economic Development and Cultural Change |date=1993 |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=43–65 |doi=10.1086/452064 |jstor=1154612 |s2cid=153836478 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1154612 |issn=0013-0079 |access-date=1 January 2021 |archive-date=28 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328190836/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1154612 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Domestic agriculture (rice being the dominant kind of crop) and [[fisheries]] retain some importance. Still, they have been greatly challenged by foreign imports since Taiwan's accession to the [[World Trade Organization]] in 2002. Consequently, upon the decline of subsistence, Taiwan's agriculture now relies heavily on the marketing and export of specialty crops, such as [[banana]]s, [[guava]]s, [[lychee]]s, [[bell fruit]]s, and [[high-mountain tea]].{{sfnp|Exec. Yuan|2014|pp=160–168}}

=== Energy resources ===
{{Main|Energy in Taiwan}}
[[File:Wind power-Kaumei.jpg|thumb|[[Wind turbine]]s in [[Taichung]]]]

Taiwan has significant coal deposits and some insignificant [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]] deposits. {{As of|2010}}, [[Petroleum|oil]] accounts for 49.0% of the total energy consumption. [[Coal]] comes next with 32.1%, followed by [[nuclear power|nuclear energy]] with 8.3%, [[natural gas]] (indigenous and liquefied) with 10.2%, and energy from renewable sources with 0.5%. Taiwan has [[List of nuclear reactors#Taiwan|six nuclear reactors]] and two under construction.<ref>''[http://www.moeaboe.gov.tw/Download/opengovinfo/Plan/all/files/EnergyStatisticalDataBook.pdf Energy Statistics Handbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425015051/http://www.moeaboe.gov.tw/Download/opengovinfo/Plan/all/files/EnergyStatisticalDataBook.pdf|date=25 April 2012 }}'', Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2010.</ref> Nearly all oil and gas for transportation and power needs must be imported, making Taiwan particularly sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices. Taiwan is rich in [[Wind power|wind energy]] resources, with wind farms both onshore and offshore, though limited land area favours offshore wind resources.<ref>{{cite web |title=Taiwan's Energy Policy and Supply-Demand Situation |publisher=Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs |url=http://www.moeaboe.gov.tw/About/webpage/book_en3/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522100548/http://www.moeaboe.gov.tw/About/webpage/book_en3/index.htm |archive-date=22 May 2012 |df=dmy}}</ref> By promoting renewable energy, Taiwan's government hopes to also aid the nascent renewable energy manufacturing industry, and develop it into an export market.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}