Tue, Feb 24, 2015 page3

• Forestry bureau reckless in clearing trees: activist

  ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE: A bureau official said that trees were cleared in Dasi District for reasons of forest management and to aid soil and water conservation

  • By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
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  A large number of trees in a national forest in Greater Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪) have been destroyed by the Forestry Bureau, endangering the habitat of a range of protected animal species native to Taiwan and increasing the risk of landslides, long-time environmental activist Lin Chang-mao (林長茂) said.

  Lin said he found out about the clearing, which can be seen across several dozen hectares across the No. 4 National Forest, on Friday, the second day of the Lunar New Year holidays, when he went mountaineering.

  The woods, formerly comprising pines, lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina) and bamboo, is a natural habitat for many wild animals, among which are protected species such as armadillos, leopard cats and muntjacs (Muntiacus reevesi), as well as wild boars.

  However, the bureau chopped down the trees because it wanted to change the composition of the forest, he said.

  Forestry Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Hung-chih (楊宏志) said naturally withered trees and those killed by pine wood nematode infestation create excessive spaces in the woods, hampering the bureau’s soil and water conservation efforts.

  Yang said the Hsinchu Forest District Office started clearing the trees last year after obtaining permission from the bureau to diversify the forest’s composition and exterminate bamboo growing in the area, because bamboo has shallow roots and grow at a much faster rate than trees, obstructing their growth.

  He added that the office chopped down only withered trees and plants under 10cm, planting new buds in their lieu to increase the forest’s capacity to maintain soil and hold water.

  However, Lin rejected the bureau’s claim that only small plants were cleared and criticized the bureau’s handling of the project, saying that the process should be gradual after assessing the impact it would have on nearby flora and fauna, but instead was done hastily and extensively.

  He said the move increased the risk of landslides, saying that a natural forest consists of many layers from the tree canopies down, enabling rainwater to trickle gradually into the soil, but now that the trees have been cleared, the soil is directly exposed to rainwater, increasing the force of soil erosion.

  He also questioned the authorities’ intention in uprooting plants under 10cm, saying that these budding plants would have one day grown into huge trees.

  The authorities’ handling of the plan is counterproductive because it detracts from the diversity in the vegetation, which in turn reduces the soil’s water holding capacity, he said, adding that the arid environment could lead to increased chances of wildfires if someone dropped their cigarette butts or set off firecrackers in the woods, he said.

  “Nature has its own plan, one that should not be interfered with by humans. There is a rule on which plants should appear in which area, and the ecosystem that forms around them. By altering the composition of a forest, the harmony in the ecosystem is ruined,” Lin said.

  The only common ground between Lin and the bureau is the necessity to reduce the bamboo, which Lin said emits digestive enzymes into the air that poison other plants and whose shallow roots have an adverse effect on soil and water conservation.
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