The Department of Wood Science and Design at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) continues to work with the Kaohsiung–Pingtung Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry Production Cooperative to promote the diversified use of forest by-products, the development of local industries, and the cooperative’s capacity for independent operation.
Building on the local momentum generated by last year’s The Taste of the Mountains exhibition, the team is returning this year with a new theme, “Misty Whispers of the Forest Leaf”. The opening ceremony for the exhibition was held on September 17, 2026, at MOI.Lab (an arts and cultural event space in Pingtung’s Victory Star Village), and it will run through September 27. The public is warmly invited to witness the many possibilities of sustainable forest utilization.
Assistant Professor Hou Po-Lun of NPUST’s Department of Wood Science and Design said the central idea behind this year’s exhibition is “to carry forward the scent of the mountains, by capturing the forest’s gentlest mists at dawn and dusk and condensing them into essentials for everyday self-care.” Building on the brand development that began with the “scents of the Liugui mountains”, the project takes the aromatic compounds and hydrosols distilled from forest plants and turns them into products for everyday life.
Over the years, the NPUST team and the cooperative have been working on a product development model centered on forest by-products that encompasses local plant-resource inventories, distillation technology, packaging design, and brand marketing. Through training courses, technical exchanges, and market promotion, they have helped cooperative members strengthen their product-development capabilities and the cooperative’s operational capacity.
This year, the team has taken the next step by exploring everyday applications for hydrosols, further unlocking the value of forest resources and bringing their benefits into personal care and daily life.
The exhibition introduces a new “Everyday Gift” collection, including the “Everyday Gift | Taiwan Incense-Cedar Hydrosol Gift Set” and the “Everyday Gift | Negundo Chaste Tree Hydrosol Gift Set.” The Negundo chaste tree hydrosol was developed from plants personally cultivated by cooperative members and has a soothing herbal fragrance. Meanwhile the Taiwan incense-cedar hydrosol is distilled from trees that local farmers have painstakingly tended for nearly 20 years.
Centered on local plant resources, the project uses distillation, product design, and brand storytelling to transform the scents of the mountains and forests into products closely connected with everyday life, demonstrating the diverse possibilities for utilizing local agricultural and forestry resources.
The cooperative is made up of local residents and practitioners from Liugui (Kaohsiung) and areas of Pingtung. It continues to uphold the principles of “local connections and sustainable development,” bringing together its members’ agricultural and forestry resources, production experience, and distinctive products. On the opening day of the exhibition, a collective sales event was arranged for members to showcase some of their distinctive agricultural and forestry products and give more people an opportunity to discover the local industries of the Kaohsiung–Pingtung region.
From The Taste of the Mountains to Misty Whispers of the Forest Leaf, the NPUST team and the cooperative continue to explore the diverse value of forest by-products and local agricultural and forestry resources. Through product development and brand building, they are bringing the stories of the mountains, the land, and the people into everyday life.
The event is presented under the guidance of the Pingtung Branch, Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency. The organizers warmly invite the public to visit the exhibition to experience the Misty Whispers of the Forest Leaf distilled from the mountains and forests of southern Taiwan.
