The Council of Agriculture's Forestry Bureau said yesterday that it has no plans to open a legendary forest of giant Taiwan hinoki cypress trees to the public.
Y. Star Huang (黃
The Atayal people have passed the legend of the "divine temple" down through generations, but due to the forest's remoteness and rugged terrain, few people have ever seen it.
However, Huang said the bureau has documented the vast cypress forest in detail in its data bank.
"We have listed it as a primary forest to be subject to special protection. We do not support any proposal to open it for public visits," he said.
Noting that many of the cypress trees in the forest are thousands of years old, Huang said he hopes that individuals who happen to discover the forest will refrain from publicizing its location to avoid creating pressure for it to be opened to the public.
Lai Chun-piao (賴春標), head of the Taiwan Forest Culture and History Workshop, announced over the weekend that he had discovered a legendary forest of Taiwan hinoki cypress trees in the northern range of Hsuehshan (雪山), which sits on the border of four counties -- Ilan, Taipei, Hsinchu and Taoyuan. The area is also known as Chilanshan (棲蘭山).
Over the past two years, Lai said he has conducted a series of field studies in the Chilanshan area, particularly in the upper stretches of Tahan River and Lanyang River which spans about 1,000 hectares at altitudes ranging between 1,800m and 2,500m above sea level.
"I have discovered dense stalls of mature Taiwan hinoki cypress in the area. Those trees could be between 1,000 and 2,000 years old,"Lai said, adding that he based his estimate on tree trunks that range in diameter from 1.5m to 3m.
Among seven species of cypress in the world, Taiwan hinoki cypress and Taiwan red cypress are indigenous to Taiwan. Others are distributed throughout North America and Japan.
Lai said his discovery proves that the misty "temple" of Taiwan cypress does actually exist, deep in the Hsuehshan forest, just as it has been described by the Atayal
As the Hsuehshan forest spans about 15,000 hectares, Lai said, the Taiwan cypress stands in the region could number into the hundreds of thousands. "Some giant trees could be 3,000 years old," he said.
Lai said a comprehensive ecological study being conducted by a team of scholars may further prove the value of this rare natural forest.
Lai, has spent 18 years in the mountainous regions surveying details of the history of Taiwan cypress and Taiwan red cypress. He said the uniqueness of the forest makes it eligible to be selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
He said he has decided to unveil the fairy-like forest mainly because he wants to raise public awareness about the beauty of Taiwan and inspire the people to protect the nation's natural treasures and environment.
"It is my hope that the area can be designated as a national park to facilitate protection of the rare forest," he said.
Kuo Chen-meng (郭城孟), a National Taiwan University botany professor, said that ecosystems in the forest deserve more study since the area could contain rich information about climate and biology during the ice ages and inter-glacial ages. He said the cypress tree is believed to originate from the Triassic Period of the Miocene Epoch some 200 million years ago.
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