A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Bruce Trail Conservancy of Canada and the Forestry Bureau at the its long-planned international exchange for the Mountains to Sea National Greenway today (4th). The Forestry Bureau invited the representatives of the Bruce Trail Conservancy for the 4th Asia Trails Conference in Taiwan. In the morning, accompanied by the ancient Tsou songs sung by the children of the Dabang Elementary School and the blessing of the Tsou tribal elders, representatives from the various units of the interdepartmental platform for the promotion of the Mountains to Sea National Greenway and friends from international trail organizations witnessed the unveiling of a plaque and the sister trail establishment ceremony at the entrance of the Tefuye Historic Trail. The unveiling was jointly completed by Hao-Chen Lin, Deputy Director General of the Forestry Bureau, Adam Brylowski, Manager of Conservation and Trail of the Bruce Trail Conservancy, and Jackie Randle, the new International Chair of the World Trails Network. Many more concrete exchanges will be promoted in the future to continue deepening the cooperation. In 2018, the Executive Yuan appointed the Forestry Bureau to be the competent authority for the Mountains to Sea National Greenway. The Forestry Bureau immediately conducted the overall route planning and alignment, and invited central and local authorities along the route to form an inter-departmental promotion platform for the Mountains to Sea National Greenway, in order to jointly promote the establishment of signposts, linking of breakpoints, and consolidation of service information for the entire route. These authorities include the Tainan City Government, Chiayi County Government, Taijiang National Park, Yushan National Park, Siraya National Scenic Area, Southwest Coast National Scenic Area, Alishan National Scenic Area, Chiayi Forest District Office, NTU Experimental Forest Management Office, Southern Region Water Resources Office, and the Irrigation Agency. The National Greenway is a 177-km long-distance trail that spans from the Taijiang Inner Sea to Jade Mountain, with elevations ranging from 0 to 3,952 meters, fully demonstrating Taiwan’s diverse ecosystems and ethnic cultures. In 2020, the Forestry Bureau organized an international exchange program for nature trails and selected three trails with potential for international promotion. Among which was the Tefuye Historic Trail, a section of the Mountains to Sea National Greenway, which is not only representative of the Tsou people's native homeland but also contains the unique landscape features of the forestry railway. It was selected to be set up as a sister trail to the Bruce Trail in Canada thanks to the coordination efforts by the Taiwan Thousand Miles Trail Association (TMI Trail). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person meetings and exchanges were delayed until today in 2022, when the Bruce Trail Conservancy of Canada was finally able to come to Taiwan for the 4th Asia Trails Conference. The Bruce Trail is the oldest and longest marked trail in Canada. The trail, covering a distance of over 900 kilometers, is maintained by volunteers. It traverses through diverse and magnificent landscapes of densely populated cities, rolling hills, and rugged coastlines. It is the only public trail to reach the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO certified biosphere reserve. The trail is a symbol of Canada’s rich natural environment and extraordinary trail systems. The Bruce Trail Conservancy is one of the largest land trusts in Ontario, Canada, and is responsible for overall trail management and revitalization. The second section of the Bruce Trail, located within the Waterdown section under the management of the Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club, has been selected as the sister trail of the Mountains to Sea National Greenway’s Tefuye Historic Trail. It is a 10-kilometer trail that runs from Smokey Hollow to City View Park. The trail includes dirt paths, gravel roads, former horse racing tracks, public roads and private roads, and passes through waterfalls, canyons, forests, grasslands and the McNally protected natural area. The Forestry Bureau said that two representatives from Canada’s Bruce Trail Conservancy came to Taiwan: Jackie Randle, Vice President of Operations under the Department of Organizational Resources, as well as the new International Chair of the World Trails Network, and Adam Brylowski, Manager of Conservation and Trail, who oversees the conservation of the trails and is an expert in terrestrial ecosystem conservation. On the morning of December 2, at the opening ceremony of the Asia Trails Conference in Taiwan, the two Bruce Trail Conservancy representatives and representatives from the Forestry Bureau, completed the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding, under the witness of Chairman Chang-Yi Chang of the TMI Trail. On the afternoon of December 3, the three-day itinerary of the Mountains to Sea National Greenway began. On the morning of December 4, the unveiling ceremony was opened to the sound of the Dabang Elementary School pupils singing ancient Tsou songs at the entrance of the Tefuye Historic Trail. The unveiling of the plaque of friendship between the Mountains to Sea National Greenway and the Bruce Trail took place under the blessing of Elder Te-Sheng Kao and witnessed by the interdepartmental promotion platform of the Mountains to Sea National Greenway. Hwa-Ching Lin, Director General of the Forestry Bureau, said that he hopes that Taiwan’s excellent trail environment can be seen by the world through friendship collaborations with trails in different countries. He also pointed out that this is an opportunity to learn from the successful experience of other countries to facilitate joint marketing and international cooperation of the trails, and promote the development of local economy and tourism. By doing so, we can create a higher quality mountain and forest recreation culture that is more sustainable and ecologically friendly, and imbued with local cultural heritage.
Home
Taiwan High Speed Rail