Acacia industry becomes the top choice without cutting old-growth forests; searching the whole island for superior mother trees to grow strong seedlings

(Continued from the previous article) Although some forestry operators have interpreted the material characteristics of acacia in a wonderfully diverse way, the public impression that acacia is "crooked and twisted" and has no value still needs to be changed. In 2015, when Zhang Sen, a professor of forestry at Louisiana State University, made several return trips to Taiwan for surveys and advocated using acacia to build Taiwan's forestry success, he stunned a group of forestry experts. They thought to themselves, as far as the eye could see, native acacia grew crooked and twisted, so how could it possibly accomplish anything big?

Zhang Sen specializes in forestry economics. When the Forestry Bureau of the Council of Agriculture invited him to teach a course on acacia seed collection and breeding, he even announced in class that if anyone could find an acacia that was "straight and full," he would give 500 yuan. This proposal gained the support of the Forestry Bureau. Through the project, the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute searched mountains and forests across Taiwan and successively identified more than 200 handsome, tall, and upright acacia trees as mother trees. These mother trees were to be used to propagate a new globally competitive Taiwanese forestry industry.

Even landslide-prone areas cannot stop it; independent and full of feeling, just waiting for those who care

Although it was the winter dry season, the Zhuoshui River beneath Sunhai Bridge on the Danda Forestry Road still made a loud sound of rushing water. The cable car originally used to cross the bridge was resting, and the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute's official vehicle could only drive across a bridge deck scarcely wider than the vehicle itself. The driver proceeded cautiously, jolting forward, and the conversation in the vehicle fell silent along with it, only becoming lively again after safely crossing the bridge. The arduous journey along the rugged mountain road was all just to catch a glimpse of a group of high-quality acacia mother trees.

Getting out of the vehicle beside the Danda working circle at an elevation of more than 700 m, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute Director Zhang Bin, Silviculture Division Chief You Hanming, and others followed seed collector Chen Mingquan's footsteps across a steep slope with exposed ground. On this exposed landslide area, Forestry Bureau patrol staff found 15 acacia trees with clear boles 6.5 m high and straight trunks, and designated them as mother trees. The Taiwan Forestry Research Institute then commissioned contractors to collect seeds and scions.

During the Japanese colonial period, the Japanese already recognized that acacia wood was unique and useful, and planted acacia, originally distributed on the Hengchun Peninsula, throughout the island, where it was used in ordinary people's lives as firewood and charcoal. But just how capable is acacia? This landslide-prone area in Danda may provide an answer. As we moved through this forest land with steep slopes and many exposed areas, the loose soil slid from time to time, and we often had to use both hands and feet, walking and climbing as we went, to avoid slipping down with the soil and rocks. Yet in exactly this kind of environment, acacia can grip the land tightly and dwell there safely without being shaken.

The 15 mother trees had long since all been numbered. Everyone followed Chen Mingquan's pace, searching for traces, and each time they found one, they could not help but admire its tall, straight form. Mother tree No. 7 was one example. Visually estimated at more than about 20 m tall, it not only had a clear bole of 7 m but also a diameter at breast height far greater than 30 cm, with a robust form that met the forestry workers' definition of "straight and full." Beside it lay a fallen acacia. Its cross-section showed it was entirely solid, and its color and grain were also satisfying, exactly the characteristics the researchers hoped for.

"For low-elevation afforestation tree species, acacia ranks first. Although it seems to be found everywhere, we need to find straight trees as mother trees, propagate seedlings through nursery cultivation, and only then will future lumber utilization be competitive," Zhang Bin said.

Overturning the "twisted" image of acacia; tall mother trees hidden in vast mountains and forests

Starting in 2015, with the support of a Forestry Bureau project, the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute launched an acacia mother tree selection event, selecting acacia trees across Taiwan with straight, full forms in the wild, a diameter at breast height greater than 35 cm, a tree height of more than 15 m, and no pests, diseases, twisting, or decay on the trunk surface, and designating them as mother trees. Seeds would then be collected from them to raise seedlings, in the hope of opening up a bright future for acacia timber.

Patrol and protection staff from the Forestry Bureau's various forest district management offices diligently patrolled the mountains, searching during patrols for mother trees meeting the standards. They compiled visual data and coordinates to the Forestry Bureau's Afforestation and Production Section, which then provided them to the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute's acacia research team for on-site confirmation, designation, and recording of basic data for superior mother trees, including longitude and latitude, slope, altitude, aspect, stand condition, and other data.