October 3-9, 2011
Headline News
Leading figures from academia and politics and the younger generation vow to be greener
Reported by Sam Lee and Chen Yi-hsuan
Written by Lydia Ma
As concerns for the preservation of Alangyi Trail and support for a nuclear-free Taiwan build up across Taiwan due in part by efforts from PCT in raising awareness, other social organizations are also joining in and shedding light on environmental issues of concern.
The “3rd Civil Society Forum on National Affairs”, sponsored by Tainan Community University and other civil society organizations, was held on October 1-2, 2011, at National Cheng Kung University and attracted more than 100 participants. Most of them were either public officials, production managers, scholars, and government workers.
There were 2 main topics of discussion this year, namely “Revisiting nuclear energy – how to develop renewable and low-carbon energy” and “The future of low-carbon cities”. According to Lin Chao-cheng, President of Tainan Community University, this forum’s purpose is to gather information and perspective from social organizations and top public officials into a coherent report in hopes that it will enable policymakers to make better policies and adjust current policies. The report will also offer different perspectives from the public at large.
A special meeting between the mayors of Tainan, Pingtung, New Taipei, and other township councilors was held on the first day of the forum and all leaders resolved to follow through in administrating energy-saving policies. They also exchanged ideas on how they would carry out these policies.
In related news, it’s interesting to note that academics and civil society leaders aren’t the only ones worried and thinking about environmental protection. For many years, indigenous people have been in the forefront of inventing and using biodegradable and environmentally-friendly items.
Taiwanese indigenous youths recently participated in an international seminar called Caretakers of the Environment International (CEI). Held in Hungary from July 3-9, 2011, CEI is an international conference on environmental education for secondary schools and its members come from 18 countries from around the world. This year’s seminar was attended by 250 students.
Among this year’s participants were youths from East Paiwan Presbytery who gave a presentation called “Back to the Millet Field”. They explained that one of the staples of indigenous life in Taiwan was the millet. In the past, their ancestors never used heavy machinery to grow it and care of the land has been an important aspect of their heritage.
Following these youths’ presentation, all participants also had an opportunity to plant millet themselves and experience a little bit what it feels like to be a farmer.
Rev. Sakinu from East Paiwan Presbytery said it was important to promote the traditional way of growing millet. He added that though this method is done solely by hand and doesn’t use any machinery, it has yielded very good results for their ancestors while protecting the land. He underscored that his ancestors never had to worry about landslides despite yearly typhoons and four months after sowing seeds, a plentiful and unpolluted harvest could be expected because harmful pesticides that pollute the ground weren’t used either.
