New Taipei Wugu Ecological Pond Renovation Bears Fruit, Wins Gold Award at National Excellence in Construction Awards

(Taiwan TB News Network / Reporter Sun Yaochang) The 2021 National Excellence in Construction Awards were presented last night (the 23rd). The New Taipei City Agriculture Department carried out the "Luzhu Community Neighborhood 33 Ecological Pond Surrounding Environment and Trail Improvement Project," renovating the surrounding environment and trails of the ecological pond, providing local bamboo shoot farmers with a comfortable and safe trail, adding stopping points for visitors, and protecting the habitat of rhinoceros beetles within the park. As a result, it received recognition at the 2021 National Excellence in Construction Awards, winning the Gold Award in the "Best Environmental Culture" category.

The Agriculture Department stated that the ecological pond in the Wugu District Luzhu Rural Regeneration Community had for many years suffered from damaged original ecological trails and relatively cluttered surrounding environment. To provide farmers with a comfortable and safe farming environment, the city government planned improvement works. Beside the pond there was originally a rhinoceros beetle habitat, where a group of Formosan ash trees served as a foraging and mating area for adult rhinoceros beetles. Therefore, the project was ecology-based, using low-environmental-impact construction methods to enhance local bamboo shoot farmers' farming convenience without disturbing the existing ecology, while also taking the park's ecosystem into account. The project adhered to the concept of resource reuse: the park's original trail stone slabs were relaid together with new stone slabs; the existing support pillars beneath the wooden platform were dismantled and reorganized into seating within the area, to naturally decay and become rotting-wood breeding areas for rhinoceros beetle larvae; and existing large boulders were rearranged to become resting spots for farmers and visitors. After improvement, the original trail has a total length of about 200 m, of which only 35 m is concrete trail, with the rest being stone slab trail, gravel surfacing and consolidated soil trail, greatly reducing cement usage. It is energy-saving and carbon-reducing, permeable, and blends with the natural and ecological character of the local landscape. After completion, the project will be handed over to the community for maintenance and management, and used as a site for food and agriculture education and environmental education.

Construction began in November 109 (2020) of the Republic of China calendar. Because the community has a rich ecological environment including rhinoceros beetles, fireflies and birds, in order to avoid destroying the original ecological habitat, construction methods adapted to local conditions were adopted based on existing environmental conditions, using techniques such as avoidance, minimization, mitigation and compensation to avoid the rhinoceros beetle habitat and existing tree groups on both sides of the trail, carrying out work manually and with small machinery. The difficulty of construction within the limited construction period was relatively high, but the construction team overcame the difficulties and actively rushed the work, completing it on schedule and with quality in January 110 (2021) of the Republic of China calendar. The construction period was 60 days, and the project cost was 2.33 million yuan.

Yang Haitu, chairman of the Wugu Luzhu Community, stated that cooperation between local groups and agencies is the key to the sustainable development of rural regeneration. He thanked the New Taipei City Agriculture Department for its long-standing guidance and support, which has enabled the community to continue promoting rural development.

Agriculture Department Director Li Wen stated that the Agriculture Department has long guided communities in promoting friendly farming and ecological conservation concepts. In addition to meeting the public's requirements for food safety, the community has gradually regained ecological diversity. The Agriculture Department's environmentally friendly remediation concept for its projects also received unanimous recognition from the 2021 National Excellence in Construction Awards judging panel, winning the Gold Award in the "Best Environmental Culture" category.