Achievement of 2021

Joint Efforts Program of the NTU Experimental Forest and Neighboring Communities

The NTU Experimental Forest has been striking to build mutual relationships with indigenous tribes in Xinyi Township, Nantou County for years. In 2020, the NTU Experimental Forest commenced a new project that was targeted to : (1)  conserve true-breeding line of native chickens in Xinyi Township, (2) cooperate with neighboring indigenous tribes (the Bunun people) to raise native chickens for commercial channel, and (3) raise beetle larvae by taking advantage of tree logs used in cultivating log mushroom for under-forest economy and achieve circular economy.

In order to conserve native chicken breed in Xinyi Township, the NTU Experimental Forest obtained 6 true-breeding native chickens in 2020 and bred in Neimaopu District. To maintain genetic diversity, the NTU Experimental Forest also exchanged native chickens with local Xinyi native chicken breeders. Although the Xinyi native chickens have unique taste, they were not commercially profitable because of longer breeding period, thus declining in markets. Therefore, the NTU Experimental Forest aimed not only to conserve local native chickens but also to help indigenous tribes to restore the local culture of raising chickens.

The NTU Experimental Forest, Leadray Co., Ltd. and adjacent indigenous tribescollectively worked together on raising native chickens for commercial channels. Leadray Co., Ltd is one of few companies in Taiwan able to provide one-stop service including breeding, raising, butchering, product development and product processing, and it has successfully established its own business model and private brand. The president of Leadray Co., Ltd participated in EMBA in NTU, and was inspired by the course. Thereafter, the president were willing to team up with the NTU Experimental Forest to achieve both corporate social responsibility and university social responsibility. The NTU Experimental Forest entrusted native chickens to breeders in Sinapalan Tribe and Luluna Tribe in 2020 and 2021. Breeders were all local indigenous people of Xinyi Township. With the joint efforts, the NTU Experimental Forest help income increases of the chicken farmers anf thus improve the sustainable development of local tribes.

For circular economy, Neimaopu District has been promoting under-forest economy by means of tree-log mushroom cultivation. During tree-log mushroom cultivation, tree logs are gradually rotted by fungi and discarded. Discarded logs used to be treated as firewood or just left degraded naturally. However, if chipped, they attract beetles which laid eggs on them. Beetle larvae feeds on chips and are later served as protein supplements for the chickens. Moreover, chips digested by larvae are degraded more easily. From tree logs, chips nourish beetle larvae as supplements for the native chicken and achieve circular economy of forest resources.

Xinyi 700 native chickens – an USR product

In May 2020, the NTU Experimental Forest introduced 50 R02 chickens (a commercial strain of native chickens which bred in Leadray Co., Ltd) to local farmers of adjacent Bunun tribes. these native chickens  were able to adapt to mountainous climate and environment. Therefore, the NTU Experimental Forest further introduced 400 R02 chickens in October 2020 and October 2021 respectively and also sent them to local farmers in adjacent Bunun tribes.

Those R02 chickens were raised in tribes at elevation of 700 meter above sea level, and they grew in nearly free-range environment and enjoyed fresh air, clean water (which is derived from forest managed by the NTU Experimental Forest), balanced diet and no antibiotics. When chickens became mature after a 4-month breeding period, they were butchered and processed in legitimate companies complying with both ISO22000 and HACCP. Subsequently, they were made into healthy and tasty frozen chicken broth bags. The brand of these products is “Xinyi 700 Native Chicken”.

The Xinyi 700 Native Chicken is a joint effort by the NTU Experimental Forest, Leadray Co., Ltd and local chicken farmers in Bunun tribes in Xinyi Township. The NTU Experimental Forest is looking forward to cooperate with both socially-responsible enterprises and indigenous people in Xinyi Township and subsequently create a business model benefits all participants.