The Council of Agriculture (COA) announced on July 30 that in response to current environmental requirements, the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) established the Forest Epidemic Identification and Information Center, Information Working Group and Timber Exhibition Hall and the three new units was inaugurated simultaneously in the morning on August 2.

TFRI Director-General Yue-hsing Huang said since Taiwan’s forests have been increasingly affected by diseases and pests in recent years, TFRI, in cooperation with the Forestry Bureau, has established Forest Epidemic Identification and Information Center to take charge of forest epidemic identification and reporting, consultation service and related matters; integrate administrative resources; accelerate epidemic reporting and handling to maintain forestry health and sustainable ecology. The Center will not only make suggestions on forest epidemic prevention and control, but also apply such non-destructive wood decay identification techniques as ultrasound, infrared ray and audio frequency to diagnose the health of old trees. It will even try to use innovative reagents in shortening the time needed to diagnose forest diseases and pests. In order to grasp the golden opportunity for epidemic prevention and control, TFRI has established a diversified, high-efficiency forest epidemic service network to provide services to far and wide areas and the services enhance greatly the forest epidemic prevention for Taiwan .

Dr. Mong-ling Wu, TFRI Forest Protection Division chief, noted that Forest Epidemic Identification and Information Center has passed ISO9001:2000 quality management system requirements to upgrade the overall quality of its services.

In addition, TFRI pointed out that in order to promote the storage, integration and application of information on domestic forest ecological researches and implement the decisions made in the COA-sponsored Policy Conference on Adjusting Agriculture in Response to Climate Changes, the Institute has also established the national biodiversity information center and integrated existing ecological information research units and personnel to set up Information Working Group. Being Taiwan ’s first team in charge of integrated and high-efficiency forestry research and ecological information management, the Working Group will convert research information into useful knowledge that can be absorbed into government policies, thus increasing overall operation efficiency.

Director-General Huang expressed the hope that Information Working Group will contribute greatly to ecological information research and collection, storage and application of domestic biodiversity information in the future. TFRI has assisted the National Science Council, universities and various agencies under the COA in promoting ecological information business and connecting with international ecological information research, said Dr. Chao-chin Lin, convener of the Working Group, which has won the local Linux Golden Penguin Award and international ISO20001 accreditation.

In coordination with the construction of a new office building for all COA agencies, TFRI moved its offices in 2009 and established the first Timber Exhibition Hall in Taiwan to provide services for forest teaching research and education promotion and provide local businesses, customs, courts and the public sector with consultation services on timber identification and information, in order to promote the professional application of creative forest industries and serve as the best platform for further scientific exploration.

In addition to providing wood and bamboo samples for educational use and research, Timber Exhibition Hall will also display creative cultural products and contents for visitors to understand, identify, appreciate and apply timber. To combine the imagination of microscopic space with the artistic conception of poetic space by using the “language of high technology” to display “natural samples of wood and bamboo” is an innovative design. When the Exhibition Hall is open, enthusiastic volunteers’ explication surely will give visitors a brand-new view of forest craft.

TFRI Director-General Huang added that modern forestry has evolved from traditional timber production and utilization into maintaining the health of forest ecosystems, stability of global environment, preservation of biodiversity and sustainable operation. Under the threat of global warming, forest health has become an important index of ensuring forests to be carbon pools; and eco-friendly building materials mainly use timber as an important way to keep carbon sequestration. If rural houses have to be newly built, rebuilt or renovated when implementing rural area regeneration projects in the future, the COA expressed the hope that TFRI can provide technical support with its related research results, using sustainable eco-friendly building materials to lay the foundation for sustainable rural development.