Welcome to the exhibition 100Y Forest Rhythms:＿＿.

Imagine yourself standing in a lush forest, the air filled with a chorus of birds and insects. At first, you may think you are the first to discover this hidden woodland. But glance to your right—between the towering trees stands a theodolite, a device used to measure position, and a level to measure altitude.

Could it be that other people have already surveyed Taiwan's forests?

The history of Taiwanese forestry spans over a century. Across this period, tens of thousands of people ventured into the mountains to become a part of this history.

In 1925, when Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the foresters of the Sanrinka, the forestry section of the Taiwan Government-General, spent over a decade hauling heavy surveying instruments into the mountains to measure forest areas and timber volumes. They drafted long-term management plans from their surveys, hoping that this southern island could provide a continuous supply of timber for the Japanese Empire, while ensuring soil and water conservation and the protection of national lands.

In 1945, following Japan's defeat in World War II, Taiwan came under the rule of the Republic of China. The Forestry Bureau of the new government took over the management of Taiwan's forests from the Sanrinka and assumed responsibility for timber production, forestation, erosion control, and flood and forest fire prevention. This work relied heavily on contracted businesses and laborers.

In 2023, the Forestry Bureau was reorganized as the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and incorporated forestry and conservation work previously under the Veterans Affairs Council. The agency pursues ecological conservation and environmental governance following the policy, "Sustainable Forestry, Ecological Taiwan."

Mencius states, "If axes enter a forest with the proper rhythm, its wood will be inexhaustible." This phrase, frequently quoted in early forestry textbooks, suggests that forest rhythms are essential to balancing development with conservation and achieving harmonious coexistence between people and nature.

Humans and all living things—even the forests themselves—each have their own rhythm. 100Y Forest Rhythms invites you to explore the history of forestry in Taiwan. We begin upstream on the confluence of time, then follow the current, experiencing rushing rapids, gentle whisperings, and nature’s grandeur.

The forest has a rhythm—now in storm, now in sun. Now, let us embark on a journey to understand Taiwan’s evolving relationship with its forests.

What did Taiwan's mountain forests look like eighty years ago? Aerial reconnaissance photographs taken by the U.S. military during World War II can be seen to your left. These images show Taiwan's forests covered with scars. How did this happen?

Timber was a critical wartime resource. Beginning in the 1930s, to satisfy the Japanese military's mounting demand for timber, the Taiwan Government-General opened large tracts of forest to commercial logging. Yet, as the war turned against Japan, the government lacked resources to reforest. Once verdant mountains became bare.

When the Forestry Bureau began to manage Taiwan’s forests, it championed a policy of “Forest Preservation First” and advocated for a five-year logging ban to allow the forests to recover. However, timber was urgently needed to rebuild homes and buildings destroyed in the war. Making matters worse, soon after the conclusion of World War II, the Republic of China entered into civil war with the Chinese Communists, further increasing demand for timber.

Taiwan's forests were once again on the brink of collapse.

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the United States began providing aid to Taiwan. As part of this effort, in 1952, American forestry experts came to assist the Forestry Bureau address pressing challenges of forest management.

To find a solution, one must first understand the root of a problem. With US assistance, the Taiwanese government conducted the first Taiwan Forest Resources and Land Use Survey. This marked the first time in Taiwanese history that forest resources were surveyed from the air.

The United States provided cutting-edge aerial photography equipment, allowing Taiwanese surveyors to take high-altitude photographs of forests. In the time before GPS, survey flights depended heavily on navigators. Using a navigational telescope mounted to the aircraft's belly, the navigator would observe the terrain below and direct the pilot.

Before you is a navigational telescope used in the Forest Resources and Land Use Survey. Step onto the platform and look down through the sight to see what navigators once witnessed from the sky. Please watch your step when ascending and descending the platform. Can't make it up the stairs? Scan the QR code to view the image from your phone.

Teams of specialists interpreted the aerial photographs. Each photograph overlapped 60 percent with the next. When two aerial photos are placed together under a stereoscope, flat images transform into a three-dimensional view. Through this method, interpreters determined tree species and height, then calculated forest areas and timber volumes.

A set of aerial photographs of Alishan is featured in the exhibition. View them through the stereoscope to see the landscape come into depth. A word of caution—veteran interpreters note that extended viewing may cause dizziness.

Through the hard work of large teams, the results of the Taiwan Forest Resources and Land Use Survey were compiled into a report titled Forest Resources of Taiwan. This report revealed that Taiwan's most valuable forests were located in remote, inaccessible areas, making them difficult to manage and harvest. Easily accessible forests, on the other hand, consisted largely of low-value mixed stands. This contrast is visible in the Forest Type Map of Taiwan and the Forest Stand-Size Map of Taiwan on the wall.

American experts recommended the Forestry Bureau shift its policy from “Forest Preservation First” to “Increase Forestation, Increase Logging, Increase Revenues.” They persuaded the bureau that aggressive reforestation and timber production would allow Taiwan's forests to rapidly recover while meeting market demand for timber and generating economic revenue for the nation.

The Forestry Bureau adopted the American experts' recommendations, ushering in a golden age of vigorous growth in Taiwanese forestry.

The 1960s to the early 1970s was Taiwan's most prosperous era of forestry. During this period, logging and forestation reached their peak, far surpassing levels of the Japanese period. The government believed that logging and forestation could reshape Taiwan's forests while generating wealth that would allow the nation to urbanize and industrialize.

The Forestry Bureau, Veterans Affairs Council, Executive Yuan, and the Taiwan Provincial Government each managed their own forest farms. Thousands of private operators and mountain residents took part in logging, forestation, milling, and processing, supporting their families through their labor. Forestry was the engine driving Taiwan's economy.

The development of forestry was a result of supportive policy and, more importantly, advances in knowledge and technology. With American assistance, talented individuals traveled abroad to study the most advanced forestry theories and techniques of the time. Forestry experts from across the world visited Taiwan to conduct research and exchange with Taiwanese foresters.

The Taiwanese government invested heavily in state-of-the-art forestry equipment and facilities, including engine-powered chainsaws and logging trucks capable of navigating diverse terrain. The government also established tree nurseries cultivating millions of saplings.

To protect the forest resources that fueled economic growth, the government set up a forest fire prevention system. Through lookouts and telephone lines built in the mountains, rangers could report fires so they could be quickly extinguished. In the display case on your left, you can see the standard equipment of a forest fire lookout.

In the 1960s and 70s, the Taiwanese government adopted the policy “Increase Forestation, Increase Logging, Increase Revenues,” hoping to completely renew Taiwan's forests. Starting in 1965, to accelerate forest restoration, the Forestry Bureau sought support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to launch a historically unprecedented forestation campaign: the Stand Conversion Project.

The United Nations provided flour and powdered milk to aid the project. The Forestry Bureau used these commodities to pay forestation contractors, who sold them for cash to recruit workers from Indigenous communities.

In this massive campaign, nearly 400 square kilometers were afforested. Grasslands and mixed stands were transformed into orderly planted forests. However, the new forests may differ from what you expect. Please take a moment to touch and observe the wood samples displayed on the table as you read the accompanying descriptions. 

You've probably noticed that the forestation species were all trees with economic value and practical utility.

There is a video in this section showing special footage from 1965, when the Forestry Bureau carried out work for the Stand Conversion Project in Zhudong. The video was shot by Yuan-chin Lee, younger brother to Yuan-tseh Lee, Taiwan's first Nobel Prize laureate, and a scholar who worked in the forestry agencies for many years. What do you see in his footage?

During the great forestation campaign, a growing number of people sought their livelihoods in the mountains as “linban” became a common term across Taiwanese society.

What exactly is a linban? A linban, or “forest compartment,” is a spatial unit first used by the Japanese in forest management. The term is still used today. For tens of thousands of laborers, work in the linban, yet provided income to support their families. In a way, the linban came to embody their hope.

Sometimes, this hope took form as songs, which were passed down among linban workers, eventually becoming the famous linban work songs. Welcome to listen to their moving melodies.

More than just trees, the linban contained a full spectrum of human relations and experiences. The dramas that unfolded in the linban became material for film and stories that the elderly shared with their children and grandchildren. In this section of the exhibition, you'll find words and photographs from the forestry workers of the past. Through them, you can experience a glimpse of life in the linban.

Through careful examination of the Forest Road Map, you may notice that the forest roads expanding outward from the linban forest often lead to settlements. These settlements flourished with the forestry industry. Traces of their former glory remain visible today. After leaving the exhibition, we invite you to visit these forestry settlements and explore.

Now, the year is 1975. Thirty years have passed since the end of World War II. Taiwan is vastly different from the early postwar years. A new manufacturing base for US and Japanese multinational corporations, the electronics, textiles, and plastics industries have developed rapidly as many migrated from rural areas to the cities.

Industrialization gave constant stimulus to the market demand for timber. To meet demand, the government opened Taiwan to imported timber. Many master carpenters and efficient plywood factories used this imported timber to manufacture woodwork and plywood for international markets, bringing Taiwan into the global spotlight. For example, Taiwan produced and exported large quantities of ranma—decorative transoms used in Japanese architecture—while the Lin Shan Hao Plywood Factory sold its products on markets worldwide. Taiwan had become carpentry master and plywood king to the world.

As Taiwan imported inexpensive foreign timber and manufactured goods for export, domestic timber became uncompetitive due to its higher cost. During this period, some mountainous areas developed early for logging began to suffer from soil erosion following heavy typhoon rains.

These mounting challenges, along with the growing international environmental movement, forced the government to reconsider policies focused solely on continuous timber production. Broader, long-term goals were necessary for forest management.

In June 1975, the Executive Yuan set out the three principles of the Taiwan Forestry Management Reform Program:

First, forestry operations should prioritize long-term goals, such as protecting national lands, and no longer exclusively pursue timber production and revenue generation.

Second, protected forest areas were to be expanded to strengthen soil and water conservation, and reduce logging.

Third, national forests should in principle be managed directly by the Forestry Bureau instead of being leased or sold to private entities.

Thus, forestry no longer exclusively aimed to drive economic growth. Instead, forestry began to act as Taiwan’s steadfast shield used to safeguard national lands. The relationship between people and the forests was transforming.

After the Executive Yuan announced the three principles of the Taiwan Forestry Management Reform Program in 1975, forestry policy gradually returned to the “Forest Preservation First” approach of the early postwar years. Through the planning of a new generation of foresters, some timber-producing forest farms and forestation areas were transformed into forest recreation areas, while portions of undeveloped primary forests were designated as forest reserves.

The establishment of forest recreation areas substantially changed the relationship between people and forests. Trips to the mountains were no longer necessarily to earn money. Now, families often went on trips to forest recreation areas to enjoy the scenery for leisure.

In the 1980s, the environmental movement was growing rapidly. Environmental awareness was promoted through newspapers and magazines, and demonstrations in the streets called on the government to save the forests. Public demand led to a complete transformation of production-oriented forestry. In 1989, the Forestry Bureau transitioned from a public enterprise that relied on timber revenue to sustain its operations, to a government agency funded through the national budget. Separated from the Taiwan Provincial Government, the bureau was set up as a division of the Council of Agriculture under the Executive Yuan.

In the early 1990s, the government explicitly banned the logging of natural forests, adopting a proactively protective stance toward forest resources. In 2004, the Forestry Bureau took over responsibility for forest and nature conservation, becoming Taiwan’s primary authority in this area.

Today, foresters understand that the traditional forestry model of compartmentalized management cannot meet contemporary means, because mountains and forests divided by policy into separate zones need to be rejoined. So, isolated protected areas and national forests have been connected into lines to form the Central Mountain Range Conservation Corridor. Foresters have become an important force in protecting ecosystems, protecting national lands, and linking communities and forests.

Today, Taiwan’s forests appear different than before. Mountain slopes once covered with grass are now filled with towering trees, and wildlife has returned. People seek “nature-based solutions.” Forestry is no longer a top-down “transformation” of forests, but instead learns from the forest ways to sustain livelihoods and heal body and mind, as well as strategies to respond to climate change and environmental problems.

In 2023, the Forestry Bureau was reorganized as the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and incorporated forestry and conservation work previously conducted by the Veterans Affairs Council. As the national authority for forestry and nature conservation, the agency's core mission is to cultivate forests and other important terrestrial ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and promote industries suited to local forest conditions. This way, present and future generations can share the direct and indirect benefits of natural ecosystems.

Forests are Taiwan's largest terrestrial ecosystem. According to the latest surveys, Taiwan and its offshore islands have a total forest area of 2.197 million hectares, accounting for more than 60 percent of Taiwan's total land area. These vast forests are home to countless species of plants and animals. They are places where many communities sustain their livelihoods, and a defence against extreme climate events, and indispensable contributors to carbon neutrality. Forests are a foundational support to life on this island.

Forestry policy now centers on protecting primary forests and caring for planted forests, with the aim of increasing forest area while making forest composition more diverse. Beyond this, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency is connecting various types of reserves into conservation corridors along the Central Mountain Range, and with other government agencies develops the Taiwan Ecological Network, covering hills, plains, and coastal areas.

Protecting this vast terrestrial ecosystem requires collective effort. The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency has adopted the Japanese concept of Satoyama to achieve this goal.

What is Satoyama? Satoyama describes landscapes shaped through long-term interaction between nature and people—places where communities explore ways of living sustainably alongside nature.

Guided by this concept, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency has shifted from its former strict prohibition on the use of national forests by local communities. Now, mountain residents are invited to take part in the management of national forests and protected areas. By combining local knowledge and lived experience with modern technologies, new pathways toward harmonious coexistence with nature have begun to emerge.

One example is the “under-forest economy” policy, which encourages residents to engage in forest-based activities using environmentally responsible methods. Commercial activities like beekeeping, cultivating orchids, and growing shiitake mushrooms nurture a mutually beneficial relationship between people and forests.

More broadly, rational and sustainable use of forest resources is essential to global forest conservation. Due to the long-standing ban on the logging of natural forests, Taiwan relies heavily on imported timber. Yet imports increase carbon footprint and may include wood that fails to meet standards of social and environmental justice.

To address these challenges while sustaining the livelihoods of mountain communities, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency has begun to revive traditional forestry knowledge and skills. It works with local residents to selectively harvest planted forests according to stringent regulations, fully utilizing trees as they supply the domestic market.

Today, all national forests under the management of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency have received certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, an international non-governmental organization. This certification confirms forests are legally and sustainably managed.

To today’s foresters, forestry is more than a profession. It is a shared commitment to protecting ecosystems and safeguarding the future of Taiwan.

The year 2025 marks two important milestones: one hundred years since the Sanrinka of the Taiwan Government-General first drafted plans for Taiwanese forestry, and fifty years since Taiwan's forestry policy shifted to conservation.

If you previously visited the exhibition 0KM: Revisiting the Sanrinka at the Conservation Station, you have heard the full story of Taiwanese forestry over the past century.

Once, forestry raced forward like a rushing torrent. Today, its pace has slowed—like a traveler who, walking through the mountains and forests, begins to notice the beauty along the way: orchids growing on trees, the moss below, and wildlife passing by. The traveler takes steps more measured to better sense the flow of time in the tranquil forest.

The forest has its rhythms—now in storm, now in sun. In this changing world, the story of people and the forests is beginning a new chapter.

Thank you for visiting the exhibition 100Y Forest Rhythms:＿＿. After today's journey, you might ask yourself: “What will the forests of the future look like?” Before you are acrylic panels for a variety of forest elements. Please select one you find important or meaningful and place it on the wall. The contour lines on the wall represent topography. The closer the lines, the steeper the terrain; the farther apart, the gentler the slope. Through them, you can see mountains, ocean, plains, and streams outlined across the wall. Together, let’s build a blueprint for Taiwan's future forests!

If there is something you would like to share with the foresters, please scan the QR code on the wall in the stamp area and leave a comment.