Experimental forests are a central plank in the conservation and development of Taiwan’s woodlands.
Spanning from the towering heights of Yushan, the country’s tallest mountain at 3,952 meters, down to the south bank of the Zhuoshui River, National Taiwan University (NTU) Experimental Forest is one of the most spectacular wooded areas endowed to any of the world’s institutes of learning. “The different elevations and ecosystems on show here are a microcosm of forests throughout Taiwan,” said Tsai Ming-jer (蔡明哲), a professor in NTU’s School of Forestry and Resource Conservation. “It’s an ideal location for teaching and research.”
Also director of the NTU Experimental Forest Administration that oversees the land, Tsai splits his time between the university’s base in Taipei City and the forest’s location in central Taiwan’s Nantou County. Measuring a sizeable 32,770 hectares, the forestland traverses the townships of Lugu, Shuili and Xinyi, with its head office situated in Zhushan.
Students at Taipei City-based NTU attend agriculture classes in the experimental forest. (Photos courtesy of NTU Experimental Forest Administration)
The expanse of mountain land belonging to NTU is a legacy of Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945) in Taiwan. Originally overseen by the agriculture department of Tokyo Imperial University, forerunner of The University of Tokyo, the land was given to NTU by government officials shortly after the end of World War II. This backstory leads to an interesting administrative crossover; NTU’s jurisdiction partly overlaps with Yushan National Park, with the two sides holding yearly joint executive meetings to ensure they are on the same page. “We work together on conserving natural resources and ensuring the smooth operation of forestry industries,” Tsai said.
National Treasures
NTU is far from the only university in Taiwan to have a stretch of pristine wood to call its own. The nearby 7,477-hectare Huisun Forest Area in Nantou’s Renai Township is managed by the Department of Forestry at National Chung Hsing University. The school, based in central Taiwan’s Taichung City, also administers three smaller experimental forest areas in Taichung, New Taipei City and the southern city of Tainan. These too are legacies of colonial rule—Chung Hsing was once an agricultural and forestry branch of Taipei Imperial University, the predecessor of NTU established in 1928. Together, the universities’ forests account for more than 1 percent of the country’s territory.
Other domestic universities with forestry departments are National Chiayi University and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in southern Taiwan, as well as National Ilan University in the northeastern county of Yilan and the privately run Chinese Culture University (CCU) in Taipei. “Together we form a cross-country network for forestry education,” said Wang Yi-chung (王義仲), director of CCU’s Department of Forestry and Nature Conservation, which manages the school’s Hualin Experimental Forest in New Taipei’s Xindian District.
Reforestation programs are bringing life back to previously empty woodland landscapes. (Photos courtesy of NTU Experimental Forest Administration)
As university-run areas, Taiwan’s experimental forests are familiar to young people up and down the country, with many attending classes in the woodlands on such subjects as agriculture, biodiversity and forest recreation. Between 6,500 and 8,500 NTU students visit the forest every year, as well as more than 2.7 million elementary and high school pupils over the last decade.
Students and academics are naturally some of the main beneficiaries of university resources, but public outreach is another crucial component of the forests’ work. NTU, for example, has five locations set aside in its woodlands for exactly that purpose, including Xitou Nature Education Area, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, with annual visitor numbers exceeding two million in recent years. The other four zones—at Dongpu, Fenghuang, Heshe and Xiaping—have also seen interest soar as recreational hiking and other outdoor activities become increasingly in vogue.
Native Inhabitants
Education is only one part of the vital role experimental forests play in the management of Taiwan’s woodlands. Protecting the local inhabitants is also high on the agenda. Case in point is NTU’s work; in 2004, administrators began implementing a new series of measures for managing rare tree species, including setting up a registration system and databank for recording the height, size, condition and location of every specimen under the university’s authority.
Locally grown lumber is put to good use in NTU’s Wood Utilization Center. (Photos courtesy of NTU Experimental Forest Administration)
Nature reserves have been set up across the forest, notably at Duigaoyue, Fenghuangshan and Yashanping targeted at red cypress, broad-leaved machilus and castanopsis, and Taiwania cryptomerioides trees, respectively. But these locations are home to a whole host of organisms. At Fenghuangshan, recent investigations revealed 50 rare or endangered plant types, as well as 161 butterfly and 77 bird species, of which 20 and 17 are endemic, respectively.
NTU Experimental Forest is also home to more than 9,100 people, most of whom are members of the indigenous Bunun and Tsou tribes. University authorities have placed boosting the local economy, increasing job opportunities and preserving traditional culture at the heart of development efforts. Key to this has been creating a joint resource management system and a forum to settle any disputes that may arise.
“We’re the first university in Taiwan to launch such a collaborative mechanism in cooperation with resident indigenous communities,” Tsai said. “It’s about recognizing our social responsibility and the need to all work together for the land we live on.”
Tsai’s office has funded numerous projects designed to protect Bunun heritage, including for promotion of the tribe’s clothing, housing, language, music and traditional knowledge. In 2014, training courses were established to help indigenous residents acquire qualifications as carpentry specialists. These were followed by a Makaskas workshop, named after the Bunun word for “skillful hands,” where those who had earned the certification could generate some additional income by putting their skills to good use. “We also work together to inspect the forests and reduce illegal logging,” Tsai said.
Chinese Culture University’s Hualin Experimental Forest in New Taipei City is home to plants like camellia flowers and animals such as the emerald tree frog. (Photos courtesy of Department of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Chinese Culture University)
Making effective use of Taiwan’s wood resources is a priority for the government given imports currently make up 99 percent of the country’s lumber usage, around six million cubic meters per year. To that end, the Forestry Bureau under the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture is promoting self-sufficiency. CCU’s Wang considers the policy a necessary compromise following a total ban on all logging in natural forests that was introduced by the government in the early 1990s. “Responsible, sustainable use isn’t harmful to the environment,” he said. “If we don’t take action, we could face acute shortages during a crisis.”
In line with the Forestry Bureau’s move to promote the forest economy, Hualin is hosting internships for growers of flowers and mushrooms, as well becoming a center for the local beekeeping trade. Precision forestry techniques, Wang said, are also shaking up the industry thanks to modern technologies. These include 10 drones that can conduct searches during emergencies or look for illegal activity. “We now have the means and will to protect our natural resources while developing economic opportunities,” he said. For Taiwan’s experimental forests, the future is in good hands.
Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw