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2014/SOM2/EGILAT/018 Agenda: III C

Logging and Timber Management in Chinese Taipei

Purpose: Information Submitted by: Chinese Taipei

5th Experts Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade Meeting

Qingdao, China 7-8 May 2014

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Logging & Timber Management in Chinese Taipei

By Shwu – Hwa WuChinese Taipei

5th EGILAT MeetingMay 7-8, 2014

Outline• An Geography & Nature Resources Overview• Timber Harvest Policy• Combating of Illegal Cutting• Trends of Timber Import & Export• Challenge and Prospect

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http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v9UOshmJ4oE/UEm3tqFQyaI/AAAAAAAAdRg/4eUsX-4qpAc/s1600/7.jpg

Chinese Taipei is a beautiful island located at the western Pacific Rim, and with a total area of 36,000 km2 accounts for less than 0.03% of the world’s land mass.

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Whirling Oceans

Beautiful Island

The northward Black Tide (Kuroshio Current) and the subtropical weather give the island a warm and humid climate. The average temperature is 22°C and the average rainfall is 2,500 mm. Copious rainfall along with seasonal storms often happens in summer. Volcanos and earthquakes are still active on the island.

Lush Forest• The forest coverage area is

21,000 km2, equal to 58.53% of the land.

• By the effects of tectonic activity and ice age glace, The vertical relief close to 4,000 meters and with over 200 mountains towering over 3,000 meters above sea level.

• Forest types include:

tropical forests,

sub-tropical forests,

temperate forests,

alpine forests.

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• Hardwood forests exist as the major forest type on the island, followed by conifer forests, mixed conifer and hardwood forests, and 152,300 ha of bamboo forests.

• The total forest volume of the island is 358,744,000 m3. The average forest volume of the island is 287 m3/ha for conifers, 119 m3 /ha for hardwoods, and 254 m3/ha for mixed forests.

Forest Resources and Composition

With extensive forest covers approximately 60% of the island, timber was once a very important resource of financial support.

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• Before the 1970s, response to the state government financial need, given the island’s rich forest resources, logging has long been a prosperous industry.

• After the 1970s, stopped deforestation gradually, started large-scaled reforestation efforts, including the planting of windbreaks in coastal area and remote islands.

• In the 1990s, a full-scale ban on the logging of natural forests was imposed, forest management attention shifted to conservation awareness and landslide prevention.

• In the 2000s, more nature reserve, national parks and wildlife refuges was established .

Progress of Forestry Policy

Outline• An Geography & Nature Resources

Overview

• Timber Harvest Policy

• Combating of Illegal Cutting

• Trends of Timber Import & Export

• Challenge and Prospect

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• Natural forests account for 73% of our forest coverage while plantations stand for 20%. The remaining 7% is composed of bamboos.

• By ownership, forest land are classified into state-owned, public and private forest. Among the forestland 76.9% is state-owned forest.

• For forest management, forest lands are classify into four types: timber management, soil conservation,forest recreation, nature reserve.

• Timber logging are strictly restricted either in certain areas, or being regulated tightly.

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Timber Harvest Policy in Chinese Taipei

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• The Forestry ActArticle 45 All forest products are subject to permitting and inspection by the government agency prior to transport for distribution. The terms of logging and harvesting permits, application procedures, and due compliance requirements and inspection regulations shall be decreed by the central government agency. The government agency shall set up checkpoints to inspect the harvest at crucial locations along the roadways used to transport forest products.The said government agency or public official invested with the authority of criminal investigation may, at their discretion, inspect the harvester’s permit, account book, equipment and materials.

• Regulations Governing Inspection of Cutting And Harvesting of Forest Products - text 22 articles

Harvest from State-owned, Public and private forest

Regulations regarding Timber Harvest

Regulation regarding Timber Harvest• The Forestry Act

Article 15.1The annual logging plan of state-owned forest shall be based on the management

plan for the relevant working circle.

Article 15.2Harvesting of state-owned forest shall be carried out according to the annual

logging plan and the Regulations Governing Disposition Of Forest Products Of State-owned Forests.

Article 15.3The category and criteria pertaining to handle national forest yields, including

harvest, transport, transfer, fee payment and other issues relevant to forest yields shall be regulated by the central government agency.

• Regulations Governing Disposition Of Forest Products Of State-owned Forests - text 32 Articles

Harvest from state-owned forest

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Logging Restriction & Associated Regulations

• Protocols of Chinese Taipei Forest ManagementArt. 8 The annual forest harvest volume should no more than 200,000 m3

by the years of 1998-2001, and every clear-cut sector should no more than 5ha.No logging is allowed in the following areas: natural forest, protective forest for water reservoir collection , ecological protection area, nature reserve area, national park, and place where forest can’t be restored.Experimental forest is bar logging except for researching.

15formosa

Logging Restriction & Associated Regulations

• The Forestry ActArt. 10 Should a forest have any of the following, the government agency shall bar logging:1.The land is so steep or the soil so shallow that re-forestation is difficult;2.After logging, the soil is likely to be eroded or affect public benefits;3.The land is located in a water reservoir collection area, headwaters of a river, on an eroded riverbank, windward coastal area or sand dune area;4.The forest is in other areas where logging prohibition is essential.Art. 11 The government agency may, according to where a forest is located, limit or prohibit the harvest or excavation of grass cover, tree roots and grass roots to a specific location and time period.

• Regulations Governing Disposition Of Forest Products Of National Forests Art. 5.3

• Standards for Determining Specific Items and Scope of Environmental Impact Assessments for Development ActivitiesArt. 16 With regard to development or use of forest lands or forests as prescribed in the Forestry Act, an environmental impact assessment shall be conducted in certain situations.

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Protocol of Chinese Taipei Forest Management Art. 8Maximum Timber Harvest volume : 200,000 m3/year in Chinese Taipei

Application Process for Timber Harvest

State-owned Forest Land

(76.9%)

Public Forest Land

Private Forest Land

Forestry District

County Government

Forestry Bureau

Procedures of Logging Harvest

Application for cutting permit

Application inspection &Permits issuing by the authority

Cutting implementation

Forest products release inspection

Forest products moving inspections

Cutover forest inspection

police agency, and local administration office (township)

copy of permit

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Certification of domestic legal logging• Identification Documents

Cutting permit, releasing permit, moving permit, tax certification, purchasing certification, etc.

• Certifying Stamps1.The investigation stamp : for harvest volume check, on trees subject to be cutting.2. The blocking wood inspection stamp : on blocking wood of construction or trees omitted from previous inspections.3. The demarcation stamp : to mark the boundaries of the cutting areas.4. The release stamp : on trunks which pass the release inspection.5. The attachment stamp : on roots or trunks of unauthorized cutting or mistaken cutting.6. The cutover forest inspection stamp :on roots of cutover forest after inspection.

• Motivations of illegal cutting– Timber value, ex. Cypress forest– Horticulture value, ex. Murraya paniculata– Art and craft value, ex. Tree burls (warts) and stumps– Medical value, ex. Stout Camphor Tree

Combating of Illegal Cuttingmost of them are came from natural forest

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Murraya paniculata (七里香 )

www.botry.com.tw

Cinnamomum kanehirai Hayata(Stout Camphor Tree 牛樟)

Antrodia cinnamomea （牛樟芝,a kind of medical fungi ）

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%89%9B%E6%A8%9F%E8%8A%9Dhttp://d1980.pixnet.net/blog/archives/201101/5

www.worldjournal.comwww.libertytimes.com.tw

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Tree wart

wenwen.sogou.com

0426325588.tranews.com

tsai667788.blogspot.com

hualien.forest.gov.tw

Cunninghamia konishii Hayata (Luanta-fir，Formosan China-fir.香杉)

blog.fashionguide.com.tw

blog.xuite.net

hsinchu.forest.gov.tw

香杉菇（芝）(Antrodia salmonea TT Chang & WN Chou)

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Actions for combating domestic illegal logging• Precaution acts

-forest patrols along with high-tech measures done by Forestry Bureau • Collaborating platform

-cooperation of forestry agencies, police department, judiciary agencies, sometimes with immigration agency

• Community cooperation-collaborate communities and aboriginal villages around the forest to patrol the forest

• Regulations of forest protection - Formula rules of penalty for illegal logging, or award for protection forest

Regulations Regarding Illegal Cutting

• The Forestry Act

Article 50 Those who steal primary forest products or forest by-products, or accept, transport, hoard or buy these stolen properties, and those who abet these actions, shall be held liable.

Article 52 The penalty for burglary of primary forest products or forest by-products shall be at least six months but no more than five years of imprisonment, and from two- to five-fold the value of the stolen property.

Article 38-1 The central government agency shall determine the methods used to protect and manage forests, prevent disasters and carry out rescues; the equipment used in forest protection; all aspects of forest propagation; and the rewards for forest fire prevention.

• Regulations Governing Forest Protectiontext 41 articles

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Trends of Timber Harvest in Chinese Taipei

• A ban on cutting natural forest in 1991

• 2010 ~ 2012, Average timber harvest volume is 38,647 m3 , harvest area is 151 ha

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 20090

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

Harvest Area(ha) Harvest Volum(m3)

Year 1991

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

1962 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007

Import Volume Export Volume Domestic Harvest Volume

Domestic Usage Degree of self-sufficiency

m3

degree of self-sufficiency

Timber Import & Export trends in Chinese Taipei

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2010-2012 Average on Timber Import/Expert and Production

Import Volume

(m3)

Export Volume

(m3)

Domestic Harvest Volume

(m3)

Domestic Usage(m3)

Degree of self-sufficiency

6,409,112 489,852 38,647 5,957,907 0.65%

Forest Certification Application in Chinese Taipei

• International forest certification system– FSC, COC

• Local forest certification system– Certification on domestic forest products

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Challenge and Prospect Challenge• Illegal Cutting on high value tree species• Illegal timber import• Timber self-sufficiency too low

Prospect Expand collaboration to include policy and local community Speed up development of international and domestic forest

certification system Education people to understand the disadvantage of illegal

timber

Thank You foryour attention

Chinese Taipei