Promoting sustainable forests: Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office recommends 20 slope-adapted tree species

To improve the health of Taipei City's forests, the Geotechnical Engineering Office took the lead in conducting a demonstration of forest composition improvement in the forest of Mount Daluntou in Taipei City, and commissioned experts and scholars to vote and select 20 native tree species suitable for planting on Taipei City's hillsides. In addition, the old mature trees left after thinning are being reused to make practical small items, which are expected to be distributed to Taipei City's junior high and elementary school students in conjunction with the "Nature Museum" courses at Taipei City's school environmental education centers, so that the concept of sustainable forests can be passed on starting from schools!

The Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office stated that forest trees are a renewable resource. Through management methods such as afforestation, tending and management, and felling old mature trees, in addition to maintaining healthy forests, the concept of sustainable use can also be achieved. Moreover, using more wood products actually fixes excess carbon from the air and can help mitigate the greenhouse effect.

Lin Shih-yuan, section chief of the Forest Section of the Geotechnical Engineering Office, also said that for forests to deliver benefits such as soil and water conservation, ecological conservation, and landscape value, the choice of tree species is especially important. Among the recommended species, Calocedrus formosana has high economic and ornamental value and is also one of the few coniferous trees suitable for growing in Taipei City; for ecological or landscape considerations, one may choose Bretschneidera sinensis, Crateva adansonii subsp. formosensis, and others. For details, please visit the Geotechnical Engineering Office's "Sustainable Forest Zone" (https://reurl.cc/OX71Dy). In addition, please pay close attention to the Facebook page "Taipei Grand Earth Journal" (https://zh-tw.facebook.com/Taipei.GEO/); the wooden small items will be distributed from time to time along with activities.