Promoting the Fumiharu Forest Foundation's eco-tour at a university in Taiwan
- Tomoyuki Sugano
- 2 日前
- 読了時間: 3分
更新日：2 日前
From December 5th to 8th, I visited Taichung City and Miaoli County in Taiwan and had the opportunity to experience the actual situation of rural revitalization utilizing satoyama.
On the 8th, at National Chung Hsing University, I gave a presentation on the eco-tours of the Fumiharu Forest Foundation and forest management that considers biodiversity, set up by Professor Chen-Fa Wu of the Department of Horticulture.
From Japan, Ms. Lin of J-Oil Mills Co. Ltd. accompanied me and first gave a presentation on her company's sustainability initiatives. After that, I was given 25 minutes to introduce the practical implementation of forest management that leverages biodiversity in Forest of Seika, Forest of Kamitoyoi, and Forest of Moyori, as well as ecotourism activities.
I was doing my best to speak in English, but we received some questions from Associate Professor Szu-Hung Chen about "the status of Japan's OECM applications" and from Associate Professor Hsi-Chun Chen about "whether there is wildlife damage," which allowed us to exchange information through some Q&A.
Professor Wu is one of the founders of Taiwan IPSI (International Partnership for the SATOYAMA Initiative). After sugano's presentation, he provided an explanation about the establishment of Taiwan IPSI and the current situation of regional revitalization in satoyama areas in Taiwan.
Unlike in Japan, it seems that government agencies under the Agricultural and Land Conservation Bureau provide generous support and a collaborative framework for small-scale farmers to engage in sixth-sector industrialization initiatives.
The event called the 'Satoyama Olympics,' which we attended on the 6th, is also part of efforts to revitalize rural villages and satoyama areas. It seems that an organization called the Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation (probably a semi-public, semi-private organization similar to Japan’s land improvement associations) provides substantial support for its management.
While restoring the original ecosystem of farmland and satoyama areas, they support events like the 'Satoyama Olympics' as an organization to foster relationships that allow direct, individual sales of organically grown rice, oranges, tea, and related processed products to consumers.
According to Professor Wu, most of the visitors are from urban areas and already have a direct purchasing relationship with farmers through continuous SNS interactions. Events like this occasionally help to further strengthen the connection between farmers and city dwellers. On the day of the event, around 1,000 people likely visited this rice field.
It is also expected to have a considerable economic impact on the local area, including rural dining and accommodation in Taichung.
In addition, through the maintenance and management of irrigation facilities such as reservoirs and waterways, we experienced the conservation of biodiversity in the ecosystem, as well as the transmission of traditional satoyama culture through activities like baking sweet potatoes in an earthen kiln made by piling up soil.
According to a local newspaper article, “It has been registered as a model site for mountain landscapes by the United Nations IPSI, demonstrating the sustainable power of both the ecosystem and culture.”
It seems that Professor Wu will also be able to join us at IPSI-10 in March (Ecuador), so I would like to deepen our relationship and also invite him to Fumiharu's eco-tour.
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