Lai Pei-yuan (賴倍元) rarely feels more at home, or more at peace, than when he is exploring the more than 130 hectares of mountainous terrain that he has reforested near Dasyueshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taichung, central Taiwan. Since purchasing his first plot of land in the region in 1985, the transportation company founder has spent around NT$2 billion (US$64.5 million) reviving the formerly barren and polluted landscape, removing more than 60,000 metric tons of garbage and planting upwards of 300,000 trees, all of which are native species like Taiwan cattle camphor and Taiwan incense cedar.
The numerous scars on Lai’s arms evince his immense devotion to his reforestation mission. The 58-year-old has personally planted an untold number of trees, and continues to spend countless hours toiling away on his lands in an effort to achieve his goal of leaving behind at least half a million lush specimens. “I am the king of the forests,” says Lai, displaying the self-confidence and clarity of purpose that have characterized his efforts to replant indigenous tree species. “I am neither an idealist, nor a dreamer. I am a doer.”
Often dressed like a cowboy in patched jeans and a Stetson, Lai looks every bit the frontier environmentalist. Although his remote lands, which contain forests and tree farms, are at present privately owned, he has repeatedly stressed over the years that his project is a nonprofit venture for the benefit of future generations. Lai plans to establish a foundation to manage the wooded lands once he completes his tree-planting efforts. “From the very beginning of this endeavor, my father has laid down a three nos policy—no land sales, no logging, and no passing down the forests to his children,” explains his eldest son, Lai Chien-chung (賴建忠).
Lai senior’s altruistic efforts to improve the environment have made him a widely recognized figure in Taiwan, and earned him the moniker the Tree King. “At least in this country, no one else is quite like him,” says Ranger Yang (楊宏志), deputy director-general of the Forestry Bureau under the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture. The bureau presented Lai with an award for his contributions to the nation in 2005, and made him the official spokesman for the Republic of China’s annual Arbor Day festivities in 2013.
Lai plans to establish a foundation to manage his wooded lands once he completes his reforestation mission. (Photo courtesy of Global Views Monthly)
The official notes that during his first visit to Lai’s lands in 2011, he was “amazed by the environmentalist’s dedication as it’s obvious that a considerable amount of blood and sweat has been shed to restore the forests.” Beyond creating a vibrant ecosystem for indigenous fauna and flora, the project is making a small yet noteworthy contribution to tackling carbon emissions. The latest research by the Forestry Bureau has found that Taiwan’s native tree species take in carbon dioxide at a rate of 3.3 to 12.7 kilograms per tree each year, meaning that Lai’s 300,000 specimens absorb a minimum of around 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Lai traces his love of woodland areas back to his teenage years, when he began visiting forests to escape the stress he felt as a result of working for his family’s transportation company. He was drafted into the lucrative business at the tender age of 14, but as the youngest son received little appreciation or recognition from his father or three elder brothers. He later founded his own transportation firm, one of a number of offshoots that would emerge from his father’s enterprise.
As the years passed, Lai developed a profound personal passion for wooded regions. To this day, he dedicates much of his leisure time to exploring forests, possessing a particular interest in the island’s giant trees, such as those found on Alishan, or Mount Ali, in southern Taiwan’s Chiayi County. “I spend the majority of my time either planting trees in my forests or appreciating giant varieties elsewhere around the nation,” he says.
At the age of 29, Lai bought the first of his 10 mountainous plots of land at a cost of NT$30 million (US$753,000 at the exchange rate in 1985). Over time, the area became his sanctuary—a place where he could escape family disputes and the rising sense of guilt he felt from working in the energy-consuming transportation sector. “He was deeply affected by the interpersonal conflict he experienced while working in the industry, which is probably why he prefers dealing with trees rather than people,” observes Siren Chen (陳芳毓), the author of Lai’s first authorized biography, Mr. Lai’s Thousand-year Commitment, which was published in Chinese earlier this year by Global Views Monthly under the Commonwealth Publishing Group.
Lai Chien-chung, Lai Pei-yuan’s eldest son, has developed a café business that supports his father’s conservation efforts. (Photo courtesy of Global Views Monthly)
Chen says that Lai possesses a strong sense of morality as well as an intense desire to promote environmental conservation. The author also notes that his many years of physical labor have made him so fit that she found it impossible to keep up with him when she accompanied him on his reforestation efforts. All in all, she is very impressed by the attention Lai puts into his work, noting that “he prunes his trees with the care and tenderness that a parent shows a child.”
While Lai’s devotion to reforestation has made an acclaimed figure among environmentalists and large sections of the Taiwanese public, his efforts have not always been met with enthusiastic responses from his family. His wife, Lai-Yi Pao (賴易寶), in particular, deeply resented his decision to spend the family’s hard-earned fortune on remote plots of land.
Furthermore, as Lai quit his job at the age of 31 to work full time on the tree farms, his wife was left to manage their transportation business and pay off the debts he accumulated while pursuing his environmental mission. “He never sought my approval prior to purchasing those plots, so I had no choice but to cover all the checks he issued to build his forests,” she recalls.
Lai’s lengthy absences and the pressure his wife felt running the business had a detrimental effect on the couple’s three children, with their two sons, Chien-chung and Chien-hung (賴建宏), leaving home and turning to delinquent behavior during their teenage years. “I had my dark days,” says Lai Chien-chung. “But I found hope in the forests.”
The elder son began to gain a deeper appreciation for his father’s work after returning home at the age of 21 following the completion of his national service. Upon seeing his father, Lai Chien-chung noticed that his sideburns had turned gray and so, for the first time, he offered to help out on the tree farms. As the days went by, he found himself growing increasingly enchanted by the lush woods. He later even dreamed up a business model that supports his father’s tree-planting mission.
In 2001, Lai Chien-chung began growing coffee bushes on the tree farms, launching online sales of his organic coffee beans in 2005. Then in 2012, he opened Yuan Dao Café in Taichung, a business serving vegetarian meals and coffee beverages made from the beans. The café’s logo is the rear profile of Lai senior, which was once the dominant image that Chien-chung and his younger brother had of their formerly estranged father. Now this depiction is being utilized to encourage the public to aid Lai Pei-yuan’s mission, as the vast majority of the store’s profits are used to help fund the family’s tree-planting efforts. “If I’ve done one thing right, it’s enabling everyone to participate in our reforestation dream,” Lai Chien-chung says.
Lai Pei-yuan’s two sons, left and right, are now actively participating in their father’s reforestation project. (Photo courtesy of Global Views Monthly)
Greatly encouraged by the success of his first store, the elder son is now preparing to open his second branch in Taichung. His ultimate goal is to go global with the Yuan Dao brand, and he vows that wherever the business goes, the profits will be used to purchase plots of land in that region for planting trees. “I’m not making money for myself or for my father, but for Mother Nature,” says the 35-year-old.
Similarly, Lai’s youngest son, Chien-hung, has been inspired by his father’s devotion to repopulating indigenous tree species. In late 2011, he succeeded in growing seedlings of Taiwan cattle camphor, an endemic species, at a greenhouse he erected next to the first such tree that his father planted. Both sons have sworn to honor their father’s wish and ensure that the reforested lands are overseen by a foundation once they have been filled with trees.
Where once it divided his family, Lai’s environmental vision has now brought his loved ones together. Even his wife has come around to his cause. In her first public address at a gathering for a Buddhist foundation in 2013, she told a 2,000-strong audience that she “will continue to support Lai’s reforestation endeavors.” Though the headstrong environmentalist is typically quite emotionally reserved, tears welled up his eyes upon hearing his wife’s words of encouragement. “No difficulties are insurmountable as long as you remain committed to achieving your goals,” Lai says. All he has left to do now is plant 200,000 more trees.
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Joyce Huang is a contributing writer based in Taipei.
Copyright © 2015 by Joyce Huang