202502/10
In recent years, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA) has collaborated with the Saisiyat community in Penglai Village in Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County, to promote the co-management of mountains and forests, with the aim of creating a win-win situation for the indigenous communities’ economy, forest ecology, and the government’s governance. The results have attracted international attention. Ryukoku University in Japan is well-known for its research in and practice of the Satoyama Initiative. On February 10, a delegation led by the university’s president IRISAWA Takashi, on behalf of the university’s Ryukoku Forest, signed a memorandum of understanding on forest cooperation with the FANCA and the Saisiyat community of Penglai Village. The signing took place in a “secret forest” located within the national forest area that also happens to be the Saisiyat people’s traditional territory. The delegation also jointly planted a Citrus taiwanica plant, a species endemic to Taiwan. In the afternoon, the FANCA held the “Taiwan-Japan New Era Satoyama Social Implementation Exchange Conference,” and jointly pledged to use Ryukoku Forest and PaKaSan as exchange bases to promote the concept and practice of harmonious coexistence between man and nature to the international community.
In recent years, the FANCA has been committed to promoting the co-management of forests with indigenous peoples by relaxing laws and introducing innovative policy tools. The promotion project with the Saisiyat community in Penglai Village, Miaoli County, has not only won the Executive Yuan’s Government Service Award and the Ministry of Civil Service’s Outstanding Contribution Group Award, but has also attracted international attention.
Ryukoku University, the oldest university in Japan, has long been working on the low-elevation mountainous forests around its campus to create the “Ryukoku Forest,” and has collaborated with residents of the surrounding communities to implement the concept of the Satoyama Initiative. After a Ryukoku University team led by Vice President FUKAO Masataka visited the Saisiyat in Nanzhuang Township last year (2024), where the co-management of the mountain forests and development of green forest industries by the FANCA and the community convinced them that these efforts were concrete evidence of the tangible implementation of the Satoyama Initiative. As a result, Ryukoku University proposed that the university, the indigenous community, and the FANCA establish a forest partnership.
Director General LIN Hwa-Ching of the FANCA said that he began to promote the Satoyama Initiative many years ago when he was still an employee of the Forestry Bureau. He also visited Ryukoku University in Japan in 2012. In addition to learning from Japan’s experience, he also realized that the traditional wisdom of indigenous peoples forms the core value of the Satoyama Initiative. After LIN Hwa-Ching assumed office as director general of the FANCA in 2016, he led the agency and indigenous peoples on the long path from conflict to reconciliation through reforms and the relaxation of legislation and policies. He gradually removed the regulatory hurdles between indigenous peoples and forests and encouraged the indigenous peoples to use their traditional knowledge to co-manage national forests and engage in the sustainable utilization of natural resources. These efforts restored the original close relationship between indigenous peoples and forests, allowing them to coexist and prosper together.
The forest co-management promoted by the FANCA and the Saisiyat community in Nanzhuang Township is a successful example of using national forest resources to encourage surrounding indigenous communities to develop diversified green forest industries. The Saisiyat people have rediscovered their traditional knowledge to preserve pristine pockets in the forests and use forest resources sustainably, while the FANCA has also learned from the Saisiyat people the philosophy of living in harmony with nature. Thanks to introductions by National Chengchi University, Japan’s Ryukoku University has established a forest partnership through the Ryukoku Forest with the FANCA and “PaKaSan” representing the Saisiyat community of Penglai Village. They will be working together to implement sustainability in forests and natural resources.
At the signing ceremony, President IRISAWA Takashi of Ryukoku University shared that as a Buddhist tertiary education institution, Ryukoku University promotes the concepts of sustainability and the Satoyama Initiative, and also implements the United Nations SDGs and placemaking. President Irisawa also noted that Ryukoku University serves as a monk training facility for the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha sect under Pure Land Buddhism. It has been an educational institution for more than 386 years and is currently heading towards the 400th anniversary of its founding in 2039. The university is promoting a long-term plan named “Ryukoku Strategic Plan 400 (RSP400),” with a focus on “introspective altruism.” The core concept of this perspective is self-reflection on whether one thinks and acts in a self-centered manner, and that one should strive to contribute to the happiness and interests of others (nature, society, people). This concept is consistent with the philosophy of coexistence and prosperity with biodiversity that the Saisiyat people have held for thousands of years.
President Irisawa also emphasized that he was deeply honored to sign the forest partnership agreement with Taiwan’s Saisiyat community in Penglai Village. He looks forward to the cooperation between the two sides, where the traditional wisdom of the indigenous people will be combined with the academic research of the university to jointly foster students with an international perspective. They will practice the knowledge of coexistence with nature in the two forests and contribute to achieving a “nature-positive” society.
Saisiyat elder KEN Chih You, who represents PaKaSan, said that his traditional ecological education was passed down orally by his grandfather, who always emphasized that humans and all creatures and plants of the forests are part of the forest and are all equal. Therefore, we must learn to respect the forest and coexist with it, and to protect the sustainability of the forest, we must only take resources as needed. This philosophy has allowed this forest to be well protected and subsequently recognized by the government and the international community.
At the Taiwan-Japan New Era Satoyama Social Implementation Exchange Conference held by the FANCA this afternoon (02/10), representatives from Ryukoku University and the FANCA shared experiences of Taiwan and Japan respectively on sustainable development strategies, biodiversity actions, the Satoyama Initiative, and promoting social transformation and change through financial systems.
Through the establishment of a forest partnership and discussions and exchanges, Taiwan and Japan not only pledged that their respective academic, civil, and government sectors will continue to invest in sustainable biodiversity and deepen the sharing of its benefits, but will also work together to promote and implement the Satoyama Initiative and show the world the concrete results of harmony and co-prosperity between man and nature.