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.
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