The government has been promoting the concept of "new agriculture" with the hope that the combination of traditional agricultural produce and the concepts of forest and leisure tourism and cultural innovation will raise the value of Taiwan's agriculture, Premier Jiang Yi-huah stated today.
The promotion of value-added agriculture is one of the government's fundamental administrative directions to usher in farmers' welfare through encompassing production, livelihood and ecology, he said.
The premier made these remarks when visiting Linhousilin Forest Park in Chaozhou Township of Pingtung County.
Addressing at the park's opening, Jiang stated that every completion of a forest park on the plains is of great significance, because aside from contributing to Taiwan's environment through afforestation and conservation of woods, the creation of forest parks provides citizenry with venues for recreation, health and happiness. Such models of leisure tourism can also usher in the development of local industries. It is therefore highly pleasing to see a forest park established at the foot of Dawu Mountain, he said.
Linhousilin Forest Park is just the latest of the government's efforts to create such parks on the plains, following Danongdafu Forest Park in Hualien County and Aogu Wetland and Forest Park in Chiayi County, the premier pointed out. Each of these three parks occupies over 1,000 hectares and is a manifestation of President Ma Ying-jeou's campaign platform of green forestation as outlined in his i-Taiwan 12 Projects.
Premier Jiang encouraged the Council of Agriculture (COA) to continue its collaboration with local governments to plant trees and create forests. The COA has forested over 28,000 hectares of land in recent years, with more than 5,000 hectares in the Pingtung region alone, and the premier supports the COA's continuation of these efforts to create more greenery and green spaces for Taiwan.
After the address, the premier participated in the tree-planting ceremony. He then visited the stalls laden with cultural and creative goods based on agriculture and forestry. Following that, he inspected a replica of the Erfeng Ditch groundwater collecting dike and installation art at an ecological pond. Later he ascended to the tourist center's rooftop to have a sweeping view of the park's ecology.
The COA stated that Linhousilin Forest Park will cover 1,005 hectares, though currently only 85 hectares of the core areas are open to the public. The park is expected to incorporate forest recreation and the concept of afforestation in conjunction with ecological compatibility, energy conservation, carbon reduction, a healthily low level of density, and green architectural designs in order to create a comprehensive eco-park that can actualize environmental education. It will also blend in to the local environment, featuring an eco-park with local characteristics that can usher in local economic development.