An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday.
Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization.
While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said.
Photo: CNA
The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬) said their branch has been promoting the coexistence of people and forests for 20 years, adding that they began collaborating with the village in 2007 on national forest protection, hike trail construction and ecological conservation.
About 90 percent of the village’s land is covered by woods, including national and public forests, making it difficult to revitalize the region through regular tourism development, she said.
However, the village developed their own under-forest economies by leveraging local natural resources and assistance from the government, attracting 11 young people to return to the village from big cities, Yang said.
An under-forest economy refers to the development of forest by-products that have economic value and can be locally produced and sold without disrupting the surrounding ecosystem.
Kuskus Village resident Kuo Mang-hsuan (郭孟軒) said that free-range chicken farming, log-cultivated shiitake mushrooms and beekeeping are the three major under-forest economies of the village.
Chickens raised in the forest peck at the weeds under trees, allowing trees’ roots to expand deeper and broader, he said, adding that those better-grown trees would have bigger canopies that can shield the chickens from attacks by eagles.
The Kuskus Community Development Association was the first entity to lease a national forest from the government to develop under-forest industries, Kuo said.
As the forest is on national land, its original ecosystems must be preserved, so industrial activities conducted on the land are required to be eco-friendly, he said.
For example, a selective thinning approach was adopted in the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms on logs to prevent soil desiccation from the lack of protection from tree canopies, Kuo added.
Kuskus Village resident Ljadam Papalicang (李玉華) said the village’s under-forest economies brought additional income for local residents and encouraged young people to return to the village.
The outflow of young people has been a problem for indigenous people who live in mountainous areas with inconvenient transportation, such as the Kuskus Village, she said.
The name of the exhibition, djalan, means “road” in the Paiwan language, Papalicang said, adding that under-forest economies help pave the road for young people of the Kuskus Village to come home.
“We hope that more young people would be willing to return to the village to support its development and pass on our cultural heritage,” she said.
The exhibition is to run through Aug. 10.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
RSS