The Limited Liability Kaohsiung-Pingtung Area Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry Production Cooperative, which was jointly established by the residents of Liugui, Kaohsiung and Neipu, Pingtung, held an unveiling ceremony at 10 a.m. on March 3, 2025 for its facilities at No. 2 Fuxing Lane, Liugui District, Kaohsiung. While giving Liugui’s natural resources a new fragrance and creating a new “Scent of the Mountains”, the establishment of the cooperative is a major milestone for the “National Forest Byproduct Essential Oil Promotion Program” which was jointly developed by National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) and the Pingtung Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency.

With 294 new participants this year, a total of 1,477 schools from 95 countries around the world competed together in the latest UI GreenMetric World University Rankings. On December 12, the winners were announced and an online awards ceremony was broadcast from University of São Paulo, Brazil. Despite the fierce competition, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) managed once again to achieve excellent results, coming 1st in Taiwan for the 11 consecutive year, while also taking the 2nd place in Asia and 23rd place worldwide!

This year (2024), on December 12th, the Taiwan Ecotourism and Regional Revitalization Alliance (TERRA) was jointly established at the Taipei NGO House by ecotourism counseling teams and tribal communities from across Taiwan. Over 150 distinguished guests from industry, government, academia attended the event to witness this historic moment, including Legislative Yuan members Ariel Chang and Hsu Fu-kuei, Control Yuan members Tien Chiu-chin, Shih Chin-fang, Acting Director CJ Chen of the National Parks Services, Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency Deputy Director Hao-Chen Lin, Secretary of the Tourism Fang Cheng-kuang, Technical Superintendent Li-Ju Song of the Council of Indigenous Peoples, President Chin-Lung Chang of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, and representatives of 44 ecotourism organizations, 65 community tribes, and 10 counseling teams from around Taiwan.

The “Sen Lin People” activity jointly organized by the NPUST Department of Forestry and Ching Jing Lin Education Foundation has entered its sixth year this year. Taking place at the NPUST’s Baoli Forest Farm on December 6 (2024), an estimated 4,000 native Taiwanese species of trees were planted on two hectares of land during the day. Tree species included Acacia confusa, Liquidambar formosana, Palaquium formosanum, Autummn Maple Tree, Philippine Ebony Persimmon, and Diospyros eriantha.

The Conference for Meritorious Forestry and Nature Conservation, known as the “Green Oscars”, was held on November 23 (2024) to commend those who have made outstanding contributions to forest resources maintenance and natural ecological conservation. At the conference, Assistant Professor Hsin-Ju Wu of the NPUST Department of Forestry was awarded for her outstanding nature conservation work which promotes local cooperation for the sustainable utilization of mountain forest resources and the revitalization of traditional culture.

Pingtung County’s Mudan Township Office received approval from by the National Development Council to conduct local regeneration projects running from 2020 to 2024. With support of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (Ministry of Agriculture), and professional assistance from the NPUST Forestry Department’s Community Forestry Center, they are promoting local creative development under the theme of under-forest economies. These economic activities, which include under-forest chicken raising, mushroom cultivation, and beekeeping in the tribal mountain villages, have received enthusiastic responses and investments from villagers and are becoming an emerging featured industry in Mudan Township. Branch Director Jui-Fen Yang and Section Chief Hsien-Pin Hsu of the Pingtung Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency were joined by NPUST Vice-President Weng-Ling Shih, Department of Forestry Director Yu-ting Wu, Forestry Professor Mei-Hui Chen, and Mudan Township Mayor Chuang-Chih at 10 a.m. on November 27 (2024) to publish the project results and hold a plaque unveiling for the Domestic Timber Workshop and Forest Biomass Energy Recycling Site in Dongyuan Village, Mudan Township. The event, which began with a traditional song performance by the Mudan Ancient Folksong Class, was attended by more than 90 local community partners, making for a lively scene.