The “Operational Guidelines of the Incentives for Bamboo Forest Renewal on Indigenous Reserved Land” were announced by the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, on February 1, 2023. These guidelines provide guidance to Indigenous peoples to carry out logging operations in bamboo forests on Indigenous Reserved Land. Through this incentive, bamboo forest owners can not only receive an incentive of NT$30,000 for bamboo forest renewal, but also earn profits from bamboo production. This will promote bamboo forest renewal and maintain the health of these forests at the same time, achieving a win-win situation for both the economy and the environment. From now on, owners of bamboo forests located in areas designated by the Council of Indigenous Peoples as “Indigenous Reserved Land” with logging bans can apply for the bamboo forest renewal incentive at the township (town, city, district) office where the bamboo forest is located. This year’s applications will be accepted until the end of April. The Forestry Bureau urges the public to submit their applications as early as possible to avoid missing the deadline. According to forestry statistics, the annual production of domestic bamboo materials was once as high as 3.2 million units, but entered a steep decline since 2016. After 2018, less than one million units of bamboo material were produced for three consecutive years, leaving no bamboo available for the downstream industry. One of the key influencing factors was the “Logging Ban Compensation for Lands Reserved for Indigenous Peoples Act” introduced in 2016. Bamboo farmers were worried that if they thinned out their bamboo forests, they would not be able to meet the “70% bamboo coverage” condition in the Logging Ban Compensation Act and would not be able to receive compensation. As a result, they were unwilling to thin out bamboo forests. The Forestry Bureau pointed out that the management of bamboo forests requires the logging of old bamboo to promote renewal. As bamboo forests grow rapidly and can be harvested and used after four years of growth, if an insufficient number of old bamboos are not harvested in a timely manner, bamboo forest growth as well as their soil and water conservation functions will decline, which will have a negative impact on national land conservation and carbon sequestration. Therefore, the renewal of the logging process once every four to five years can maintain the health of bamboo forests, allowing them to perform their public welfare functions. This can also provide domestic bamboo timber production to promote the economic revitalization of the mountain communities and the sound development of the industry. Logging of Bamboo Forests Did Not Qualify for Logging Ban Compensation in the Past, Now to Be Replaced by the Renewal Incentive The Forestry Bureau explained that the bamboo forests in the declared no-logging areas within the Indigenous Reserved Land are provided with compensation under the existing “Logging Ban Compensation for Lands Reserved for Indigenous Peoples Act.” Therefore now, as long as bamboo farmers in Indigenous Reserved Land areas are willing to thin the bamboo forests and produce bamboo materials, they can also apply for an “Incentive for Bamboo Forest Renewal” of NT$30,000 per hectare per year, which is the same amount as the compensation. The farmers do not have to worry about losing their existing income, and they can also get additional income from bamboo production and sales. This can achieve both land conservation and bamboo production at the same time, as well as provide jobs in the mountainous regions and revitalize the economy of Indigenous communities. The Forestry Bureau said that the application methods, application period, applicants, and documents required by the “Operational Guidelines of the Incentives for Bamboo Forest Renewal on Indigenous Reserved Land” are mostly in line with the provisions of the “Logging Ban Compensation for Lands Reserved for Indigenous Peoples Act,” with the township (town) office where the bamboo forest is located as the contact unit; applications are accepted on an annual basis. However, there must be an interval of more than three years before the bamboo forest incentives can be claimed again, and proof of logging and harvesting, such as the logging (transportation) permit or the bamboo forest renewal certificate issued by the township (town) office, must be used as the basis for the claim. To fully help the owners of bamboo forests within Indigenous Reserved Land with the logging ban understand the new policy and application method, the Forestry Bureau will be holding eight promotional seminars from February 24, 2023 to the end of March, in cooperation with the city and county governments of the major bamboo producing zones in Indigenous areas, together with the local township (town) offices and local Forest District Offices. Priority will be given to Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Nantou County, Chiayi County, Hualien County, and Kaohsiung City, which are the major bamboo production locations in Indigenous areas. In the future, the Forestry Bureau will work with the governments of other cities and counties with jurisdiction over Indigenous areas for joint planning. The Forestry Bureau welcomes all bamboo forest owners to attend the briefing sessions. For details of their time and location, please refer to the “2023 Promotion Seminar Schedule of the Incentives for Bamboo Forest Renewal on Indigenous Reserved Land” below.
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