Organized by the Chinese Forestry Society with the assistance of the NPUST Department of Forestry and Department of Wood Science and Design, the “2022 Sustainable Forest Development Seminar” took place on October 27 at the university Library and Conference Hall. NPUST president Chin-Lung Chang and Chinese Forestry Association chairman Han-Chien Lin jointly opened the conference which was attended by 285 people from government agencies, universities, and related industries. A total of 181 publications on “forestry academics” and “forestry industries” were made at the seminar, including 90 oral presentations and 91 poster presentations.

NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang said “NPUST participates in the GreenMetric University Rankings and has ranked first in Taiwan for eight consecutive years. Its global ranking is also gradually rising. In addition to improving energy consumption and infrastructure on campus, all the new buildings and transportation policies are preemptively taking into consideration carbon neutrality. Furthermore, in addition to various agricultural practice fields on the school’s vast campus, the nurseries and forest farms managed by the Department of Forestry have contributed a lot as carbon sinks. Through good forest management, we can develop along the lines of ecological conservation, forest industries, and forest recreation while also having a greater influence on sustainable forestry management.”

Chinese Forestry Association chairman Han-Chien Lin said “the purpose of establishing the Chinese Forestry Society was to call forestry colleagues to follow the Forestry Constitution, research forestry development, and conserve forest resources. I would like to thank NPUST for its help and support in holding the “2022 Sustainable Forest Development Seminar”. I hope that everyone who participates will gain a lot and that the seminar will be a great success.”

For the seminar, Forestry Bureau director Hwa-Ching Lin was invited to present on “the management of Taiwan’s forests and the self-sufficiency of domestic timber”. In his talk, he shared on the way in which Taiwan’s forestry authorities are improving domestic timber self-sufficiency rates, increasing afforestation, and strengthening the management of public and private forests. Lectures at the conferences also brought attention to the service value of forest ecosystems, the promotion under-forest economies, the pursuit of net-zero carbon emissions and other important areas of forestry research. Hopes are that through the exchange that was afforded to scholars, experts and researchers during the seminar, their academic work will be promoted further and their efforts in sustainable forestry development will enjoy broader reach.