In order to enhance the restoration of indigenous peoples' rights to natural resources and in turn work with the government to manage and protect the forests, the Forestry Bureau will be implementing a new version of the Co-Management Guidelines on Indigenous Peoples' Day, August 1st, 2020. Well-organized indigenous tribal communities can independently propose the establishment of a co-management committee to collaborate with the Forestry Bureau for decision-making on the sustainable use of natural resources in national forests, as well as take substantive part in the management of the forests through administrative delegation. According to the Forestry Bureau, the first resource co-management committee was established in 2006 with the Tsou People, and 13 such committees have been formed and 124 meetings have been held to date. However, the previous co-management meetings were initiated by the Forest District Offices and were limited to consultation only, and did not involve the use of natural resources, which has resulted in the co-management meetings often being a mere formality or involving only a small amount of resources provided by the government. In order to implement the substantive co-management on the "sharing of rights and responsibilities", the Forestry Bureau revised the "Guidelines on the Resource Co-Management Mechanism with Indigenous Peoples Inside National Forests Managed by Forests District Offices of the Forestry Bureau" over the past two years, incorporating the decision-making power of the indigenous peoples over the use of natural resources into the co-management committee. Indigenous tribal communities or groups can initiate a co-management committee with the Forest District Offices based on tribal concepts of natural resource management and utilization, in accordance with their traditional culture and needs. Co-management committees can also be formed across Forest District Office jurisdictions, depending on the conditions of the tribal communities or groups, and the scope of the co-management issue. Strengthening of Subjectivity and Representation on Topic Orientation and Tribal Nomination According to the Forestry Bureau, in addition to strengthening topic orientation, tribal consensus-building, and the initiation process, the new system also prioritizes the selection of representatives nominated by the tribal councils to improve the effectiveness of the co-management committee. In the past, most of the indigenous representatives on the co-management committees were recommended by township offices. In order to ensure that the committee members are more representative, the new co-management committee members will be nominated by the tribal council, and when the tribal council has no nominations, the committee members will be recommended by a local municipal office familiar with the tribal community. The Forest District Offices will no longer be offering nominations, and more than one-half the members on the co-management committee must be indigenous representatives so as to adequately represent the tribe. Adding "Administrative Delegation" to Integrate Authority and Responsibility The Forestry Bureau emphasized that the strengthening of co-management is for the purpose of transitional justice of indigenous peoples in response to their expectations on natural resource rights and autonomous land protection. It is also a joint effort to maintain the integrity of mountain and forest resources in the spirit of sustainable use. Therefore, another progressive feature of the new guidelines is the addition of an "administrative delegation" mechanism. Well-organized tribal communities or indigenous groups can enter into administrative contracts with the Forest District Offices for the use of natural resources related to national forests under the principle of sustainable planning, such as traditional hunting, forest produce harvesting, ecotourism, and mountain porter operations. Through administrative delegation, the government can delegate the right to use natural resources to tribal or indigenous groups for autonomous management, while at the same time entrusting them with responsibilities such as forest patrol and forest conservation, with the government playing a resource monitoring role. Take for example the recent discussions triggered by mountain porters camping and stationing on national forest land. Through administrative contracts, the Forest District Office will be able to collaborate with local tribal communities and associations to co-manage forest management and ecotourism in the region, while tribal communities can also assist in managing hiker activities, protecting the environment, and conserving local natural resources. Signing an administrative contract not only restores the tribal communities' rights to independently manage and make decisions concerning natural resources, but also to recover the tribal community's traditional relationship with the mountains and forests. They will also share the important responsibility of protecting national land resources and bring the integration of authority and responsibility into practice. The Forestry Bureau once again stressed that the new co-management mechanism is a topic-driven mechanism centered around the indigenous peoples. Through tribal councils, community members can form a consensus to propose co-management issues, nominate representatives to the committee, and establish a substantive partnership with the government. Currently, the Tsou People of Alishan Township already signed a letter of intent with the Chiayi Forest District Office and Chiayi County Government last year on August 13th, 2019, regarding hunting and autonomous management of natural resources. On July 23rd, 2020, a number of Amis tribal communities in Hualien County signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hualien Forest District Office on the co-management and collaboration of natural resource use on Cilangasan, holy mountain of the Amis, of Fengbin Township. The Forestry Bureau will follow up with new co-management guidelines and further discuss co-management issues and practices with affiliated tribes not limited to a single county or township to promote substantive co-management. "Sustainable mountains and forests" is a core value shared by the indigenous peoples and the Forestry Bureau. The Forestry Bureau also hopes that more tribal communities who care about their land will take action and work with the Forestry Bureau to establish a co-management mechanism that will ensure the sustainable use of forest resources while protecting the forests more effectively, and restore the close connection between humans and nature.
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