New uses including art, reconstruction and ecological preservation are being found for driftwood left behind by Typhoon Morakot in August, the Forestry Bureau said yesterday.
Driftwood holds cultural, artistic and ecological value, Director General of the Forestry Bureau Yen Jen-the (顏仁德) said. As a result, his department has continued to work with the public, local governments and institutions to find new uses for the wood, he said.
Last week, the Forestry Bureau worked with Taipei National University of Arts to hold an art exhibit comprised entirely of works made from driftwood. The exhibit is expected to remain open until February.
This is on top of a driftwood park created last month by National Taitung University.
Yen said driftwood is also playing a major role in the reconstruction of rural Aboriginal villages. He said that working with popular Aboriginal musician Kimbo (胡德夫) and financed in part by corporate donations, 3,420 tonnes of driftwood have already been delivered to villages for use in house reconstruction and to provide materials for Aboriginal artists and sculptors.
Almost 1 million tonnes of driftwood was left behind by the typhoon — more than 20 times the total amount in previous years, which averaged between 30,000 and 50,000 tonnes — said Hsu Cheng-ching (徐政競), branch director of Reforestation and Production at the bureau.
He said that most of the driftwood washed up on the coasts of Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties. He estimates that 90 percent has already been cleaned up and transported to forests and other ecological districts. He expects the brunt of the cleanup to be finished sometime next month.
According to Article 15 of the Forestry Act (森林法), local governments have one month to mark and clean up pieces of driftwood after a natural disaster.
After that period, local residents are free to pick up unclaimed pieces.
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