Taichung City Government is to plant 1 million saplings over eight years to boost the numbers of 12 tree species on Dadu Mountain (大肚山) to sustainable levels, the city’s Construction Bureau said.
The reforestation would also improve the air quality in the city, the bureau said.
Dadu Mountain’s vegetation is largely comprised of acacia trees and Guinea grass, the bureau said, adding that the trees originated from the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County.
Photo courtesy of Taichung City Government Construction Bureau
Early settlers to Dadu Mountain planted the trees to use them for firewood, which is why they are abundant in the area, the bureau said.
Later settlers used the area for grazing and set fire to the fields to clear them, causing the forest to recede, it said.
The native Aidia canthioides was also displaced by the invasive Cinnamomum burmannii that was brought to the area, it added.
There are seven vegetation types and 69 species of trees growing on the mountain, the survey found.
Nineteen of the tree species are growing at sustainable levels, but 12 are at dangerously low levels, the bureau said, adding that these include Aidia canthioides and Quercus glauca, also known as the ring-cupped oak.
The city determined that restoring the forest in stages would be too difficult and decided to establish a conservation area, bureau Director-General Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖) said.
The city would plant the saplings in a manner that is best accommodated by the surrounding land and vegetation, Huang said.
The mountain covers about 250 hectares, of which 193 hectares belongs to the Wenshan Industrial Park, the bureau said.
The city would first pick 20 to 30 locations on the 57 hectares of public land as conservation test sites, and the final conservation area would be determined in the second half of next month, it said.
Water conservation would be a crucial part of planning for the conservation project, as the water table is well below the surface of the mountain, the bureau said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
RSS