In the wake of Morakot and the accompanying floods, many scholars have noted that in protecting against flood waters, rehabilitating mountainside forests is crucial, particularly given Taiwan's well-known susceptibility to earthquakes and typhoons, and mountains accounting for over half of its area. As the island-shaking 921 earthquake showed, this makes Taiwan particularly ecologically fragile.
88 水災後，多位學者指出，要想防洪治水，源頭──山林復育──是一大關鍵，尤其台灣是全球著名的地震島、颱風島，全島山地面積占一半以上，加上 921 大震將整座島嶼猛力「抖」了一回，更增添了地質上的脆弱性。