A botanical garden celebrating biodiversity and Tao cultural heritage is to be built on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), officials said on Monday, as the Lanyu Junior High School and Taiwan Forestry Research Institute formalized the collaboration.
The school is to see its campus rebuilt as the Tao People Botanical Garden as part of the national botanical garden program, officials said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding.
The 48km2 island is home to 140 species of rare plants, or 14 percent of the 989 rare plant species in the nation, making it among the most diverse regions in Taiwan, institute director-general Chang Bin (張彬) said.
Photo copied by Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
Lanyu is threatened by development, a problem that conservation and education authorities should confront together, Chang said, adding that the garden would help protect Tao culture by showing the Tao names and stories of indigenous plants.
School principal Yang Jui-liang (楊瑞良) said that the garden would help preserve plant species and allow students to experience the Tao way of life, such as foraging for seasonal fruits, making traditional foods and utilizing plants for crafts.
The garden would also serve as an educational zone showcasing eco-friendly practices such as carbon footprint reduction, and energy and water conservation, he said, adding that it would raise public awareness of the effects of global climate change on the biodiversity of the island.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
ORIGIN UNKNOWN: The Leofoo Village Theme Park and Taipei Zoo have accounted for their baboons, as authorities continue a 12-day capture attempt Authorities in Taoyuan are searching for a non-native baboon, possibly of the chacma species, that has been spotted several times in the city’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) over the past 12 days, and was most recently seen in coastal Sinwu District (新屋). The baboon was first spotted near a local factory on March 10 in central Taoyuan, Jhensing Borough Warden Huang Chih-chieh (黃志杰) said. Huang said he requested the Leofoo Village Theme Park’s help after a second sighting on Saturday. In other sightings, the baboon raided fruit and vegetable gardens on private property, and has evaded one capture attempt via a tranquilizer dart. Media reported
Taiwan would have established formal relations with Argentina long ago if not for China’s interference, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui told US-based Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae in an interview published on Tuesday. Beijing has left behind a string of unfulfilled promises in Latin America, including pledges to build the Grand Nicaragua Canal and airports, docks, ports and industrial zones in El Salvador, he said. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries enjoy pragmatic and improving relations with Taiwan based on cooperation on the economy, culture, technology and science, he said. While Taiwan is “happy to live and let live,”
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