Four-Way Development Eco-Tourism: Organic Farm Becomes a Haven for Wildlife Conservation

 

 

An organically certified eco-farm becomes a habitat haven for rare flora and fauna

 

The estate's original site was formerly a Taiwan Sugar Corporation sugarcane field; after 60 years of conventional monoculture farming, its ecology was fairly uniform. After the estate took over the lease, through sixteen years of effort, the original land was transformed into today's Cixin Nature Estate Leisure Farm. More than 70 species of animals have now been recorded within the park, and over half of the plants in the area are native species. It is hoped that eco-tourism will drive the development of organic agriculture.

 

To activate and utilize water resources and maintain the water safety of organic certification, in addition to building rainwater harvesting and application systems, the park planned an ecological water purification system in 2009. Domestic wastewater and toilet discharge are channeled into 7 gravel-bed purification ponds. Through layered filtration using the height differences between the ponds, and with aquatic plants decomposing and purifying the water, it is then recovered and recycled. The recycled water is used not only by the estate but also for irrigating surrounding farmland, concretely putting water resource recycling into practice.

 

The estate is an excellent venue for food and agriculture education, allowing visitors to personally experience organic farming and establishing the best connection from farm to table.

 

Using Four-Way Eco-Tourism to Create Green Healing Business Opportunities

 

The operating features and future development goals of Cixin Nature Estate include the following two points:

 

1. A Four-Way Education Venue: Organic Environmental Protection Coexisting with Nature

 

 

Cixin Nature Estate is a farm that takes education as its starting point, aiming for the [Four Ways] - ecology, production, living and life. The farm currently features green buildings, organic composting, ecological purification ponds, and other organic characteristic environments, restoring the vitality of the land and coexisting harmoniously with nature, while opening up infinite vitality for the next generation.

 

The operating model adopts an application-based entry system. It does not restrict entry qualifications, but implements total visitor control to maintain the quality of ecological guided tours. The park can provide dining, accommodation and meeting facilities. In the post-pandemic era, people prefer outdoor nature experiences even more, and the estate hopes to create a journey of body, mind and spirit that combines ecological and healing features.

 

2. A Model of Food and Agriculture Education: A Five-Senses Experience from Farm to Table

 

In addition to ecological experiences, the estate is also an excellent venue for food and agriculture education, allowing visitors to personally experience organic farming and establishing the best connection from farm to table. The estate also sells products from the Mayuan Organic Agriculture Production Cooperative, combining production, local consumption and tourism, linking primary, secondary and tertiary agriculture to build Taiwan into a friendly and reassuring food platform.

 

 

Cixin Nature Estate is a leisure farm guided and developed by the Cixin Organic Agriculture Development Foundation, mainly promoting the Cixin philosophy of Elder Master Riyi and providing food and agriculture education and experiences.