NPUST’s Vice President for Education, Shang-Min Ma, said “over the years, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and the Forestry Bureau have been working in cooperation, and have actively organized a series of Community Forestry 2.0 courses. Each time a course has been held, it has received an enthusiastic response from people around the country. Our school is also making use of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education’s Sprout Project to promote related activities, and has even set up an Under-Forest Economy teaching site at the school to facilitate the education of teachers, students and residents of tribal communities. In 2018, NPUST successfully joined the International Partnership Network of the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI), becoming the 10th organization and first technical university in Taiwan to join the cause. We are very happy to work with our Satoyama partners across Taiwan and hope that Taiwan’s experience can also be shared internationally. The speakers at this seminar include important promoters of the policy, theory, and practice of Taiwan’s biodiversity conservation, community forestry, and the Satoyama Initiative. Six experts from Japan with rich practical experience will also be sharing on the touching actions that they have been involved in on the Satoyama front. With many exciting topics to share on, I believe the event will be very inspiring and rewarding for everyone.”

President Nakamura Nobuyuki of the Satoyama Exchange Conference said “We are constantly thinking about how to achieve the goal of protecting natural resources while allowing for the co-prosperity of rural communities. The Satoyama spirit is the most appropriate way to do this. We can achieve the coexistence of the two by building a common sense of community and applying the cycle of natural resources. We are reshaping the Satoyama into an important source of capital for society, with the hope of also slowing down the consumption and waste caused by industrialized societies. Through this discussion, we are very happy to brainstorm on ideas with the Community Forestry Center as we embark on this adventure together.”

Deputy Section-Chief Hsiu-Chuan Huang of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said “it is a great honor to represent the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency at the 2023 Taiwan-Japan Satoyama Exchange Seminar. I hope to share valuable experiences and learn from the speakers both from Taiwan and Japan. I also thank the NPUST Department of Forestry, along with Professor Meihui Chen and her team, for working together with us on the path of sustainability in the Satoyama.”

Representing Taiwan, Section Chief Chih-Chin Shih of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency explained Taiwan’s “Satoyama Initiative and Biodiversity Policy”, and Professor Meihui Chen, who proposed Taiwan’s community forestry program in 2002, shared on the Community Forestry and Satoyama Initiative cases she has come across during her 20 years of related experience. Professor Kuang-Chung Lee of National Dong Hwa University who introduced Taiwan to the idea of ​​the International Satoyama Initiative in 2010 shared on “Taiwan’s Satoyama Initiative Promotion and Development Network”. Each of the Taiwanese speakers play important roles in promoting Satoyama policy, theory and practice in Taiwan.

The six Japanese experts included Nakamura Nobuyuki, president of the Satoyama Exchange Conference, who focuses on the creation of Satoyama environments for children; Kawai Tsuguo, a registered landscape architect, who has been devoted to the environmental education of the West Lake Ecological Trail in Shiga Prefecture for many years and who also supports local environmental conservation affairs in Myanmar; Nakagawa Masanori, assistant president of Nara Prefectural Medical University, who has rich experience in placemaking and urban development and who also established the “Kaseyama Club”, which is a group for Satoyama activities in Kyoto; Takashima City Council Deputy Speaker Korenaga Hiroshi, who revitalized 140-year-old local bungalows and transformed them into an exchange base for urban residents, and who develops immigration and cultural exchange projects to revive mountain villages; Nishizawa Saiki of Seta Forest Kindergarten who aims to help children connect with the natural environment from an early age through childhood education, and who is actively involved in policy reform; and Omori Jumpei, the head of OM Environmental Planning Research Institute Co., Ltd., who works with local residents and the government to promote the rural revitalization movement. The six experts play diverse roles in Japan’s Satoyama story—and all have been involved in Satoyama work for many years. With the rich experiences brought to the seminar, the time of exchange was an opportunity for all the parties, whether from Taiwan or Japan, to gain new insight and find new inspiration for their Satoyama activities.

Following the devastations of Typhoon Morakot, Ali Tribe members living in the affected area relocated from their mountain village to a new permanent settlement on the nearby flatlands, but their affection for their historic home remained with them. The current activity was designed to connect both the new settlement and the Ali tribe’s native village through an ecological tour. At Lily Park in Changzhi, a small-scale farming tour was arranged by the Forest Originated Youth Team and the young tribe members. The tour included a “Grade Six Industry” under forest bee raising activity, and offered an opportunity to present the results of the gold-medal-winning ChangeMaker Youth Community Participation Action Project that the Forest Originated Youth Team conducted with the Ministry of Education between 2019 and 2021. Several young people from the Ali tribe carefully planned the experiential tours of the permanent settlement and small-scale farms, allowing the participants to enjoy the cool breeze as they strolled through a world of under forest beekeeping, tribal style hand-made beeswax cloth, tribal plum wine and cloud coffee. Since 2008, NPUST Forestry Department professor, Mei-hui Chen, has been working with these young people from the Ali Tribe, who, at the beginning were attending high school in the city. Now, they have returned to the tribal area and are serving their community in such capacities as president of Community Development Association, director of the Indigenous Village Management Team, and farming leader for under forest economies. And now the tribe members from their parent’s generation are by their sides offering support, in what can be said to be the perfect example of the Satoyama spirit of sharing from generation to generation.

Through the co-learning activities carefully organized by the two parties, young people from all over the country can visit and experience the beauty of the tribal mountain areas, and see the ways in which NPUST is practicing university social responsibility (USR). Expectations are that the tours will also help encourage new ways of thinking and inspire young people who are working hard in various places to continue moving forward.

President Dai Changxian stated, “Through the Community Forestry Center established by the Forestry Bureau at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, and under the leadership of Professor Chen Meihui, cross-disciplinary collaboration within the university has been facilitated. This allows faculty and students to step out of the campus, collaborate and coordinate with the Forestry Bureau, various levels of units, and the community, providing better teaching and industry services, and creating a better economic return to society.” Professor Chen Meihui from the Forestry Department added, “The era of ‘Community Forestry 2.0’ is now here. To assist in policy promotion and respond to social development needs, the Community Forestry Center addresses current important local revitalization issues such as community building, advocating for mountain villages, new agriculture, organic agriculture, rural circular economy, six-level agricultural industry value chain, ecological tourism, and under-forest economy. It actively cultivates talent through education, workshops, seminars, skill training, and international exchanges. In addition, the Community Forestry Center has been working with the Forestry Bureau to accompany local community development for many years, supported by the Ministry of Education’s University Social Responsibility (USR) program. To date, it has organized 42 talent cultivation activities, with a total of 1410 trainees nationwide. This initiative not only takes root in various parts of Taiwan but also accelerates rural development in environmentally friendly environments.” Chief Luo Youjuan from the Conservation Section of the Forestry Bureau said, “In addition to promoting community forestry projects, the Community Forestry Center also shoulders the important spirit of advocating for mountain villages. In addition to publishing printed manuals and a series of videos, we also provide information about various ‘exemplary communities’ and ‘demonstration communities’ on the ‘Community Forestry Project Application Information Network’ website for future partners who want to join community forestry. This serves as a reference and learning resource, and we facilitate easy access and learning through various channels.”

The event presented a series of community forestry technical manuals, and guest speakers included Tang Guangyou, the author of “Community Forestry Technical Manual – Monitoring and Selection of Honey Source Plants” from SoilRocks Ecology Co., Ltd.; Mr. Nakamura Shin, President of the “Japan-Taiwan Mountain Village Exchange Meeting,” who pre-recorded videos; and Mr. Yeh Zhengjie, founder of Ladder Image Co., Ltd., which documented the event.

Through the establishment and networking of community forestry center points, the event aimed to provide empowerment and consulting services to communities nationwide, expand the professional service capacity of the Community Forestry Center, and showcase achievements. The network points presented at the Community Forestry Center include: “Community Industry Network Point/Kaohsiung City Baolai Cultural Association” – providing resource investigation and inventory to train interpreters for development, and assisting in the promotion and marketing of local agricultural products; “Social Enterprise Point/Hualien County Ox Plough Community Exchange Association” – guiding and assisting more communities in community forestry projects through a community-led model; “Environmental Education Point/Yong’an Community Development Association, Luye Township, Taitung County” – establishing an environmental education center through sustainable development and promoting ecological tourism; “Forest Patrol Point/Promote Aboriginal Rongan Cultural and Educational Promotion Association, Taitung County” – participating in the “National Ecological Conservation Green Network Construction Project” to implement shallow mountain ecological conservation and conserve the biological and cultural diversity of mountain and sea areas; “Underforest Economy Beekeeping Point/Mingde Community Beekeeping and Rehabilitation Center, Miaoli County” – promoting a friendly environment while creating a community bee product brand; and “Underforest Economic Golden Thread Point/Pub Xing Community Development Association, Fanlu Township, Chiayi County” – cultivating the alternative economic benefits for local small farmers by planting golden thread, among others.

In addition to the presentation of network points, a “General Introduction to Community Forestry Technical Manual” was also presented. This overview allows communities and forestry personnel to comprehensively and rapidly grasp the essence of community forestry projects for effective knowledge management and application. The event covered various topics such as “Community Forestry Technical Manual – Underforest Beekeeping,” which fosters the skills of young students in underforest beekeeping, benefiting the economic development of mountain villages. Other topics included “Community Forestry Technical Manual – Monitoring and Selection of Honey Source Plants,” which was based on long-term field observations of bee flower visits, contributing to a better understanding of native honey source plants by beekeepers. Additionally, the event featured the “Community Forestry Technical Manual – Introduction to Japanese Satoyama Case Studies,” co-authored by Mr. Nakamura Shin, Daisuke Sakamoto, Junpei Omori, and Tsuguo Kawai, practical workers who jointly wrote about their on-site practices in Satoyama. The event also introduced a series of videos on community forestry technical manuals, providing the public with a dual