The “Sen Lin People” activity jointly organized by the NPUST Department of Forestry and Ching Jing Lin Education Foundation has entered its sixth year this year. Taking place at the NPUST’s Baoli Forest Farm on December 6 (2024), an estimated 4,000 native Taiwanese species of trees were planted on two hectares of land during the day. Tree species included Acacia confusa, Liquidambar formosana, Palaquium formosanum, Autummn Maple Tree, Philippine Ebony Persimmon, and Diospyros eriantha.
At the event, smart forestry technology and environmentally friendly creative handicrafts were on display. The university’s Vice President for Administration, Wen-Ling Shi, and the founder of Ching Jing Lin Education Foundation, Cong-Lin Lin, jointly opened the event, and welcomed the many participants, including representatives of NPUST, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Ching Jing Lin Education Foundation, Agricultural Bank of Taiwan, Land Bank of Taiwan, Taichung Bank, Taiwan Corporate Bank, SinoPac Securities, Sunny Bank, Hua Nan Bank, Chang Hwa Bank, Taipei Fubon, Mega Bank, Cooperative Bank, and Kaohsiung Bank.
In her opening speech, NPUST Vice President Wen-Ling Shi said “the Department of Forestry and the Ching Jing Lin Foundation have been jointly holding afforestation activities since 2018. Over the past six years, 10,000 Taiwanese native trees have been planted at our school’s two forest farms, covering an area of 10 hectares. These activities are in line with global sustainable development goals, including net-zero carbon emissions and biodiversity conservation. They are also a demonstration of ‘university social responsibility’ in practice.”
Cong-Lin Lin, the founder of the Ching Jing Lin, said in his speech: “As an alumni of the NPUST Forestry Department with the desire to give back to society and my alma mater, we have joined hands with the Department of Forestry to organize afforestation and greening activities. We hope by taking these real actions we can contribute to ecological conservation and net-zero emissions. We are also providing scholarships for young students so that through a cycle of contributing back to society and our alma mater, these things can continue to the next generation.”
The event attracted around 400 parents and children, who came to participate. Through environmental education activities like this one, children have the opportunity develop environmentally friendly practices from an early age. At the “Senlin People” event many trees were planted, but also, by introducing innovative technology for smart forestry development to the public and spreading the mindset of environmental education, many seeds were planted for better tomorrow based on sustainable co-prosperity.