News--Welcome to National Chiayi University

　　The much anticipated annual Forest Week, organized by the student association of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Chiayi University, starts! The event takes place from today to March 13th on the first floor of the Student Activity Center on the Lantan campus of NCYU. Entitled, “Rooting,” this year, the students from the department will share forest-related knowledge ranging from seed dissemination, Under Forest Economy Policy, and Satoyama Initiative, and introduce the public to the connection between forest and life. The event features the eye-catching activity of exchanging uniform invoices for seedlings. The organizer also offers hand-made pressed flower coasters, handicrafts and delicacies specially prepared by students for sale. The Forest Week is expected to promote the beauty of forests and the concept of forest conservation. All teachers, students and the public are welcome to join the grand event.

　　To promote tree planting and greening, and implement environmental education, the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, NCYU, have prepared 2,400 seedlings this year. The seedlings will be given to participants in exchange for unredeemed uniform invoices. Proceeds from the invoices will be fully donated in the name of the event organizer. The seedlings are provided by both the students who have cultivated the seedlings during internship and by the Chiayi Forest District Office, Forestry Bureau. All these are seedlings of green landscaping and ornamental plants, coming in a wide variety: Osmanthus, banana shrub, Formosan Sweet Gum, Taiwan beech, yellow-flowered wind bells, evergreen ash, Seashore ardisia, Asian bayberry, acacia, Calocedrus formosana, slash pine, Cassia grandis, Taiwanese persimmon, etc. (To know more about the seedlings offered for each day, please consult the Facebook page of the event for more information. The organizer reserves the right for changes.)

　　The seedlings exchange event is slated from March 8th to 12th, between 13:00 p.m. and 16:00 p.m., at the courtyard near the health room of the Student Activity Center. On the last day of the Forest Week (March 13th), the exchange event will be held between 9:00 a.m. and 16:00 p.m. A total of 400 seedlings will be provided for each day. Each participant may exchange three unredeemed invoices for one seedling, and may receive up to two seedlings, the species of which cannot be repeated. To protect the environment, please bring your own reusable container as plastic bags are not provided. The staff will hand out numbers to the first 200 people lining up 20 minutes before the event starts. In conjunction with the regulations regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, people who are not members of the university are required to have their body temperature taken before entering the NCYU campus. All participants in the event are required to wear a mask. Alcohol sanitizer is provided for disinfection. Let’s work together to protect against Covid-19.

　　As organizer of the event, Ling Yu-Qing indicated that they offer an array of exquisite handicrafts made of seeds for sale, including Acacia bean earrings, glass acorns, acorn charms, flower in glass domes, micro landscape ecological bottles and specimens, among others. All the products are characterized by unique details. They also sell foods made from plants, such as Maqaw (mountain pepper) tuna salad sandwich, cinnamon soft-boiled egg, cinnamon dried tofu, lemon winter melon tea, and 7UP soda drink mixed with lemongrass. By organizing the Forest Week on an annual basis, they hoped to introduce the public to the diverse use of forest plants, and the necessity of forest conservation.

For more information on the event:
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NCYUForestWeek2021
IG: ncyuforestweek2021