Who took away our precious forests? The answer might be different from what you think.
Late Qing Dynasty: The Fuse of the Industrial Revolution and the Camphor Monopoly
The modern development of Taiwan's forestry did not begin with a thirst for timber, but with the monopoly on "camphor" (changnao).
Global Celluloid Industry and "Opening Mountains to Pacify Tribes"
In the mid-19th century, the West was undergoing the Second Industrial Revolution. The invention of Celluloid (an early plastic raw material) and smokeless gunpowder turned camphor into a strategic resource. At that time, Taiwan supplied approximately 70% of the world's camphor.
- Policy Logic: To replenish the national treasury, the Qing government promoted "Opening Mountains to Pacify Tribes" (kaishan fufan). While ostensibly for "civilizing" purposes, the true intent was to penetrate mountainous regions to establish camphor distillation kilns (naozhao).
- Global Historical Context: This coincided with the era of Resource Colonialism, where great powers were plundering specialized crop resources globally.
- Profound Impact: The development during this period was "extractive," leading to the near-total depletion of camphor forests in shallow mountains. Simultaneously, it breached the ecological boundaries of indigenous mountain peoples, causing ethnic conflicts that lasted for a century.
Japanese Colonial Period: Imperial Modernization and the Civilization of Steel Rails
In 1895, after Japan took control of Taiwan, forestry policy shifted from "frontier plunder" to a "systematized state-run system."
Imperial Strategy and the Three Major State-Run Forest Farms
The modernization efforts following the Meiji Restoration required vast amounts of high-quality timber, and the cypress (hinoki) forests in Taiwan's deep mountains were the ideal infrastructure materials in the eyes of the Empire.
- Technical Inference: The Japanese government was willing to invest heavily in constructing the three major forest railways—Alishan, Taiping Mountain, and Bashan—because they viewed Taiwan as permanent territory and pursued "long-term management."
- Forest Railway Technical Details: They introduced the American Shay geared locomotive. Its vertical cylinders and bevel gear transmission technology were designed to overcome the extreme gradients and fragmented terrain of Taiwan's mountains.
- Global Historical Perspective: This reflects the ambition of the Empire of Japan in the early 20th century to emulate Western powers by establishing "Imperial Forestry," using Taiwanese cypress to build shrines (such as Meiji Jingu) and warships, symbolizing the legitimacy and power of the regime.
Post-War Transformation: Cold War Island and "Using Forests to Fund Governance"
After 1945, the regime changed. The situation faced by the Nationalist Government was entirely different from the Japanese colonial period, leading to a drastic turning point in the fate of the forests.
Cessation of US Aid and the Urgency of Survival
From the 1950s to the 1960s, Taiwan was pushed to the front lines of the Cold War. With the end of US aid in 1965, the government urgently needed to raise its own funds to maintain massive military expenditures.
- Policy Motivation: The government promoted an industrial policy of "using agriculture and forestry to cultivate industry and commerce" (Yao Chih-nien, 1993), treating forests as a "green ATM." During this time, forest resources were commodities used to exchange for US dollars.
- In 1956, development was expanded to thirteen forest areas under the "Three More" forestry policy: "More reforestation, more logging, and more tax payments" (Chiao Kuo-mo, 199<0xE2><0x80><0x89>3).
- In 1958, a management plan for Taiwan's forestry was announced, ordering that all natural forests—except those reserved for research, observation, or scenic purposes—be cleared, with cypress given an 80-year limit and others a 40-year limit, to be gradually converted into plantations (Yao Chih-nien, 1993).
- Technical Shift: The Forest Road Revolution: To maximize profits, the government abandoned expensive railways in favor of the highly destructive "Forest Road System." Heavy trucks drove directly into the deep mountains; while logging speed increased dramatically, improper road cutting created severe risks for landslides and debris flows in later generations.
Comparison of Historical Data
- Data Analysis: According to statistics by Yao Chih-nien (1993), from 1912 to 1945, the three major state-run forest farms (Alishan, Bashan, Taiping Mountain) logged a total area of approximately 18,432 hectares, with a timber volume of about 6.63 million cubic meters. It should be noted that this figure only covers state-run farms and does not include private logging operators of the same period; thus, the actual total harvest should be higher. In the post-war period between 1 1946 and 1990, the logged volume reached over 44,567,000 cubic meters, covering an area exceeding 344,000 hectares—approximately 6.7 times the state-run figures from the Japanese era (Peng Kuo-tung, 1989; Forestry Bureau, 1991; as cited in Lin Kuo-chuan, 1993).
- Interpretative Discrepancies: In 1972, the peak of logging, the Forestry Bureau Annals (1997) recorded 1.8 million cubic meters, while Chiao Kuo-mo (1993) estimated it to be over 2 million cubic meters. This shows that the forestry history of the "Massive Logging Era" requires further disclosure of historical materials and academic clarification (Li Ken-cheng, 2016). However, different sources point toward the same narrative.
- Era Inference: This reflects a short-term depletion strategy where the regime, under the mindset of "Retaking the Mainland," viewed Taiwan as a temporary residence rather than engaging in long-term national land planning. However, the "arrangement" within the Nationalist Government's historical perspective was to transform a larger-scale, lower-cost, and less sustainable resource extraction into a national epic about "survival" and "development."
The Constructed Binary Opposition
In the education and propaganda of past decades, the Nationalist Government successfully established a formula of opposition:
- Japanese Colonial Period = Plunder: Defining Japanese development as "extracting colonial resources to serve the motherland," emphasizing that Alishan's sacred trees were cut to build Meiji Jingu, thereby strengthening feelings of victimhood. The Japanese era relied on forest railways; their tracks were fixed and prominent. The stumps of "sacred trees" we see in Alishan today are mostly remnants left after logging during the Japanese period. These residual legacies constantly remind people of the development of that era.
- Post-War Period = Construction: Packaging massive logging under the national cause of "Reconstruction Base," "Economic Development," and "Resettlement of Veterans." Furthermore, the government closely linked forest development with the carving of the Central Cross-Island Highway, forming a heroic narrative of the era. Post-war development introduced the American-style "Forest Road System," using heavy trucks to penetrate mountain areas. These roads were built quickly and cheaply, but often disappeared or were closed due to landslides after logging was completed.
The Misleading Point: This led the public to overlook the continuity of forestry management. In fact, in the early post-war years, the Forestry Bureau almost entirely inherited the state-run forest farm system and technology from the Japanese colonial period, but its intensity of execution far exceeded that of its predecessor.
A Century of Transformation: From "Conquest" to "Reconciliation"
Starting in the 1980s, environmental awareness awakened globally, and Taiwan experienced civic movements such as "Saving the Qilanshan Sacred Trees."
- 1991 Total Logging Ban: This was a watershed moment in Taiwan's forestry history. The government officially announced a total ban on logging natural forests, shifting forest management from "economic extraction" to "national land security."
- East Asian Contextual Evidence: This aligns with the trend in East Asian countries (such as China and Thailand) during the 1990s, which implemented logging bans following large-scale flooding.
- Legacy for Future Generations: The ban caused Taiwan's timber self-sufficiency rate to drop below 1%, making the industry extremely dependent on imports. This has prompted contemporary rethinking of the balance between "private forest utilization" and "sustainable development of domestic timber."
Summary: The Trajectory of Forest Development
Looking at the entire timeline, Taiwan's forests have experienced three shifts in value definition:
- Before the 19th Century: Forests were "wilderness," an obstacle to reclamation.
- Early to Mid-20th Century: Forests were "assets," chips used to exchange for national power and US dollars.
- 21st Century: Forests are "home," a resilient barrier against extreme climate.
The forestry policies of these three hundred years are, in essence, a change in the human definition of "natural value." When we walk into Alishan today, we should see more than just beautiful scenery; we should see the profound traces etched into the tree rings regarding global geopolitics and the struggle for survival.
References
- Li Ken-cheng, 2016, 〈How many trees were actually cut during Taiwan's Massive Logging Era?〉, included in the Dayuan Mountain Cuifeng Lake website. July 20, 2016. URL: http://www.taiwanland.tw/06Dah-yuan/discussion/word27.html
- Taiwan Provincial Forestry Bureau, 1997, Annals of the Taiwan Provincial Forestry Bureau. Taipei: Taiwan Provincial Forestry Bureau.
- Agriculture Media, 2019, 〈Listen to the history of the forest, uncovering the beauty and vicissitudes of Taiwan's Massive Logging Era〉, https://www.agriharvest.tw/archives/8214/.
- Yao Chih-nien, 1993, 〈Forestry during the Japanese Colonial Period〉, pp. 9–30; 〈Forestry in the early post-war period〉, pp. 31–64, included in The Chronicles of Taiwan's Forests, edited by the Republic of China Taiwan Forest Chronicles Compilation Committee. Taipei: Chinese Forestry Society.
- Chiao Kuo-mo, 1993, 〈Forestry Policy〉, pp. 175–193, included in The Chronicles of Taiwan's Forests. Taipei: Chinese Forestry Society.
- Lin Kuo-chuan, 1993, 〈Past and Present of Forest Resources〉, pp. 1–29, included in Sustainable Management of Forest Resources, edited by Hsia Yu-chiu, Wang Li-chih, and Chin Heng-piao. Taipei: Taiwan Provincial Forestry Research Institute.
- Peng Kuo-tung, 1989, 〈Ecological Problems Faced by Taiwan's Forest Management〉, paper presented at "Forest Management under Ecological Problems." Taipei: Taiwan Forestry Research Institute.
- Forestry Bureau, 1991, Taiwan Provincial Forestry Statistics. Taipei: Forestry Bureau.