The Forestry Bureau on Wednesday outlined a plan to make Taiwan’s lumber industry at least 5 percent self-sustainable by 2027 by promoting creative consumer products.
The bureau made the announcement at an exhibition showcasing the results of the Taitung Forest District Office’s collaboration with the Sunrise Driftwood Workshop.
Aiming to “recreate the beauty” of native Taiwanese wood, the workshop based in Taitung County’s Taimali Township (太麻里) created furniture using legally and sustainably sourced local lumber.
Three furniture sets for an entrance hall, study and dining room are to be displayed at the Taitung Story Museum until Dec. 30.
The sets were conceptualized by Huang Chun-chieh (黃俊傑), a professor in the Department of Wood Science and Design at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
They use local timbers sourced by the office, including Taiwanese red cypress, mahogany and Formosan acacia.
When the government began promoting the use of local materials in 2017, less than 1 percent of the lumber industry was self-sufficient, bureau Director-General Lin Hua-ching (林華慶) said at the opening of the exhibition.
About 4.5 million cubic meters of wood is imported every year, primarily from Southeast Asia, where the material comes from tropical rainforests, Lin said.
To better protect forests and improve the domestic lumber industry, the bureau is aiming to achieve 5 percent self-sufficiency by 2027, he said.
The bureau hopes to achieve this by working with businesses to create products using local wood, thereby increasing their value and giving consumers direct contact with locally sourced materials, he said.
Each product would have a QR code with information on its origin to assure people that they are buying from a legitimate source, he said.
The bureau is to also help local foresters and manufacturers with marketing and developing new products, Lin said, adding that the ultimate goal is to create a sustainable domestic lumber industry.
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