202509/09
“The House of Pakasan,” a hub connecting government agencies, local tribal settlements, communities, and international exchanges, officially opened today (09/07). In the presence and with the blessing of nearly 60 attendees, including Director General Lin Hwa-Ching of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA), Saisiyat elder Ken Chih You, local Nanzhuang residents, and international scholars and experts from the United States and the Philippines, this space, named “Pakasan” (meaning “father, mother, children, family”), has once again exemplified the renewed commitment of the FANCA and indigenous people to sustainable forestry and tribal development through collaborative stewardship under the forest co-management model.
Today’s opening ceremony commenced with remarks by Director General Lin Hwa-Ching of the FANCA. The ribbon-cutting took place jointly with Ken Chih You, Chairman of the Miaoli County Saisiyat Indigenous Peoples Forestry and Worker Limited Liability Cooperative, Hsia Jung-Sheng, Director of the FANCA’s Hsinchu Branch (FANCA Hsinchu), Professor Kuan Da-Wei of National Chengchi University, and Abel Valenzuela, Dean of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. In his speech, on behalf of the visiting delegation, Dean Valenzuela said, “In the United States, indigenous peoples and the government have often been at odds over rights issues, often requiring protests to secure their inherent rights. Here in Nanzhuang, I witnessed the indigenous people and the government put aside past grievances to build a relationship. This has been an arduous and time-consuming challenge, yet it is profoundly meaningful and inspiring, making it a truly valuable lesson for us to learn from.” A farmers’ market was also held on site, bringing together a wide variety of diverse and distinctive agricultural products from local tribal settlements and communities, showcasing the co-creativity and vitality of different cultures.
“The House of Pakasan” is located near Nanzhuang Old Street. It was originally a warehouse used by the Nanzhuang Branch of FANCA Hsinchu’s Dahu Workstation to store forest fire prevention and firefighting equipment and calibration instruments. Long hidden behind the red brick walls lining the street, it was little known to the public. Now revitalized and repurposed, this white building is now open to the public with a new facade, showcasing the achievements of forestry co-management and circular economy promoted jointly by FANCA Hsinchu and the Saisiyat community. The interior decoration and furnishings of the exhibition hall are all made of domestic timber materials produced from the national forest land in Nanzhuang. The space features a simple, elegant layout with a warm and inviting atmosphere. The displayed objects are exquisite handmade wooden craftworks created by Saisiyat tribal members using residual materials discarded as waste during forestry operations (such as undersized logs or branches), transforming these materials into chopsticks, forks, chairs, storage boxes, kalimbas, and more. These stunning “carbon can” creations not only store carbon within themselves, achieving carbon reduction benefits through sustainable timber utilization, but also significantly enhance their added value through creative pieces with therapeutic purposes that combine different materials or incorporate native plants.
Since 2018, the FANCA has established a friendly partnership with the indigenous Saisiyat people, setting up mutual trust, cooperation, mutual benefit, and shared values as core principles, working together toward the development of sustainable forestry and tribal industries. Over the past few years, FANCA Hsinchu has worked hand in hand with the Saisiyat people, achieving fruitful results in many areas. These include tribal forest patrols, under-forest beekeeping, log-cultivated shiitake mushrooms, ecotourism, cultural revitalization, and even FSC-compliant sustainable forest management practices within forestry operations, such as new tree planting, tending, logging, and the recycling of residual materials. Through mutual learning, practice, and sharing, FANCA Hsinchu and the Saisiyat community have established a successful model for practical implementation. This model has attracted visits from hundreds of tribal settlements, communities, schools, and research institutions across Taiwan.
The opening of “the House of Pakasan” will serve as a platform for the FANCA to promote forestry policies and continue the development of its partnership with the Saisiyat people. Through hands-on participation and interactive experiences, international scholars and experts witnessed the concrete manifestation of the Satoyama spirit of “harmonious coexistence between man and nature” in Nanzhuang, Miaoli. They also gained deeper insights into the tribal economic diversification and the strengthening of mutual cooperation. FANCA Hsinchu emphasized that through the promotion of a co-management mechanism, integrating indigenous tribal knowledge with advanced modern forestry management practices, it is possible to balance sustainable forest resource management, tribal economic development, and cultural preservation. This embodies the core value of “PaKaSan.” It is hoped that the opening of “the House of Pakasan” will allow more people to understand the meaning of Satoyama partnerships and the benefits of promoting sustainable forestry circular economies, sharing Taiwan’s community forestry stories beyond its borders and on to the global stage.