Today (4/8) Global View Magazine held the second awards ceremony for “Outstanding University Social Responsibility Projects” and winning first prize for the Ecological Co-Benefit category was Associate Professor Mei-Hsiu Hwang of the NPUST Institute of Wildlife Conservation. NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai accepted the award on Professor Hwang’s behalf.
For this year’s competition, a total of 142 were submitted for consideration. Following a review of materials and in-person interviews, that number was narrowed down to 16. Professor Huang, who has been deeply involved in black bear conservation for 20 years, was singled out in her category for the important conservation work she has been doing and for leading the effort to help society become more ecologically harmonious.
President Tai remarked that “the Global View USR rankings are helping universities discover partner institutions. They are uniting diverse schools such as medical universities, agriculture universities, and schools of industrial management and allowing them to strive together, make a bigger difference in local communities, and spread the concepts of USR in a tangible way”.
Professor Hwang (aka “black bear mama”) was selected for the work she did on a project to “establish a pure world where people and bears coexist and prosper together”. In her 20 years of black bear conservation she has led many teams of students up into the mountains to conduct research. She was also the first in the country to use wireless tracking devices to study the animal. Setting up safe traps in in the areas where the bears like to hang out, Professor Hwang often captures bears for health check-ups, then equips them with tags, chips or satellite transmitters to help keep tabs on their whereabouts and wellbeing. At NPUST, Professor Hwang focuses on talent cultivation and inter-disciplinary cooperation. She has also set up a Formosan Black Bear Conservation Association that is building up international ties and working to build awareness about black bear conservation with more people. A film directed by Jue-Ming Mai has focused on this work. With camera in tote, Mai followed Professor Hwang around for 11 years as she conducted her work in the field. In 2019, his film “Formosan B.B. is Coming” was finally released, receiving praise from critics as a realistic, profound and educational look at the difficult conservation work being done in Taiwan.
“In 20 years, my goal hasn’t changed”, Professor Hwang said, “I want to get the Taiwan off the list of endangered species.” With this goal in her sights, Hwang has been influencing the public and engaging in activities that are having a real impact on the environment. In an interview, Director Jue-ming Mai once commented that “the deeper purpose is to awaken the awareness of conservation and take care of our environment.” Habitat destruction and illegal hunting have been real threats for these animals. At present, the total number of black bears in Taiwan is estimated to be somewhere between 200 and 600; but in order to get to a stable level, the number must reach at least 2,000. And so, the conservation teams have been working through various mediums to promote awareness and get society to work together as a whole.
“This is something we have been doing all along”, Professor Hwang expressed, “even before the Ministry of Education’s project was launched –even if project is ended, this is what we are doing.” In the future, more diversified methods will be used to expand the work—through lectures, environmental education, inter-departmental cooperation, and various student exchange activities, they will work to spread resources and exert the greatest influence on this cause. Through their effort to get the Formosan Black Bear off the list of endangered animals, hopes are that the people of Taiwan will learn to love their home and their own backyard even more, and that through conservation, on every inch of land where flowers and trees grow, more of the precious and species will be left in place for the next generation.
