The Thousand Miles Trail Association (TMI Trail) has launched a new Web site that seeks to enlist the public’s help in reducing concrete hiking trails in the nation.
At a news conference on Tuesday, TMI Trail deputy director-general Hsu Ming-chien (徐銘謙) encouraged hikers to upload photographs of damaged or at-risk trails to itrail.tw, as part of efforts to reduce the spread of paved paths in mountainous areas.
After walking more than 200 mountain paths in rural areas in Taipei and New Taipei City, volunteers found that nearly 74 percent of the trails in Taipei were completely paved with concrete, with natural trails accounting for only 10 percent, Hsu said.
Photo courtesy of the Thousand Miles Trails Association
The discovery sparked grave public concern about the issue, leading to the establishment of Taiwan Trail Day, celebrated on the first Saturday of every June, Hsu added.
The association is dedicated to reducing the widespread existence of paved trails in mountainous areas around Taiwan, an upgrade from the “zero damage to natural trails, zero growth in concrete trails,” TMI Trail chairwoman Chou Sheng-hsin (周聖心) said.
She added that itrail.tw was launched in conjunction with nearly 40 other groups and companies from a broad range of areas.
On its Web site, the TMI Trail said it invites people to join the initiative by walking through forests and strolling along trails, encouraging them to record and report problems whenever and wherever they find them along the way using their smartphones.
The association said that it hoped the Web site would increase public awareness of the importance of maintaining a sound natural environment and encourage self-discipline among hikers.
Through a collective effect among the public, trails that need protection or repairs would be found, which would be referred to government authorities in charge to deal with, it said.
Trails that need protection or repairs would be rebuilt by hand if necessary or with other environmentally friendly methods, it said.
Hsu said the objective was set in the annual non-governmental organizations’ environmental conference in 2012, opening the way for a Taiwan trail stewardship campaign of scores of trained skilled volunteers with the TMI Trail to protect and maintain natural mountainous trials across the country.
As more and more people have become enthusiastic about hiking following COVID-19, mountainous areas and hiking trails have become much more vulnerable to the damage caused by increased mudslides and land erosion, Hsu said.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS