How a small Yilan farm put Taiwanese tourism on the global map
Today we take you to a leisure farm in Yilan that won the first-ever Asia Ecotourism Network award in innovative ecotourism. The farm beat out rivals from 21 countries with its unique “forest table” tour, which combines a gastronomic experience with wildlife education. There are more than 300 leisure farms in Taiwan, many with greater cashflow or better locations. But it was this Yilan farm that stood out and made its mark on the international stage. What’s its secret? We find out in our Sunday special report.
Against the lively melody of folk music, visitors from around the world emerge from a bus.
The 17 guests hail from 15 countries, spanning Oceania, central and south America, Africa, and Asia. It’s a veritable United Nations. What brought them all the way to this Yilan farm?
Chu De-yaun
Sustainable farming educator
Now this dining table is the Bird Table. If you want to eat from it, you’ll need to pass a pop quiz. Please name a bird that’s representative of your country.
Kathleen A. Orellana
Guatemala tourism department representative
Our national bird is el quetzal. It flies like this.
The visit was organized by the foreign ministry’s International Cooperation and Development Fund, as part of an ecotourism workshop. After sampling the Bird Table, the guests move on to turmeric jelly at the Bee Table.
Then there’s the Wild Boar Table, which is covered with brown sugar “soil.”
These “forest dining tables” are the brainchild of Swiss-Taiwanese chef David Wu. He wants guests to feel as if they were animals foraging in the wild.
David Wu
Head chef
The Bird Table, for instance. I started out by thinking about our natural environment, thinking about what I can use, what we have that birds like to eat.
Wu aims not only to engage the five senses, but to also prompt reflection on nature.
David Wu
Head chef
Why are these birds in our environment? Why are bees so important? If we use chemical fertilizers, we are harming bees and birds and other animals. We have to consider them, too.
Wu’s gastronomic concept brings visitors to the farm from all corners. This year, it defeated 21 nations to win the Innovative Ecotourism award from Asian Ecotourism Network.
The farm was founded by Cho Chen-ming, now 84. Forty-four years ago, she and her husband bought a piece of mountain woodland for their retirement. In the 1990s, amid a government push for leisure farms, they ventured into agricultural tourism.
In the early years of the farm, organic or eco-friendly practices weren’t widespread. The couple used pesticides and herbicides, until they saw for themselves the harms described in Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring.”
Cho Chen-ming
Farm founder
Insecticides kill insects. It kills all the insects, and then birds eat the dead insects, and the birds die. When you spray herbicides, all the wildflowers and all the weeds die. What you get at the end is devastation, totally barren ground, soil that turns white. It was horrifying.
It occurred to Cho that ancient humans were able to produce good harvests without the help of chemicals. She began to study organic practices, to explore how to coexist with nature.
One practice she adopted was planting crops that were less susceptible to pests and more suited to the local environment, crops like sweet potato leaves and water spinach.
Today, weeds and crops thrive in her garden side by side. It’s just one of the features that set the farm apart.
The farm’s approach to sustainability was internationally recognized even before this year’s award. In 2019, it was one of two Taiwan farms certified by the GSTC, or the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. That meant it aligned with U.N. sustainability goals, achieving a circular economy in food, ecology, and agriculture.
Hunter Lin
Farm project manager
We especially like to attract bees that are higher up on the food chain. They live here, in what we call the insect hotel.
Without using pesticides, the farm controls the insect population by employing “worker” bees. Wood and bamboo are used to attract solitary, carnivorous bees to the hotel for residency.
Hunter Lin
Farm project manager
The solitary bees catch insects and put them in here. Then the bees lay eggs, and the hatched larva eats the captured insects. We especially want creatures higher up on the food chain to stay here, to help us control pests like water scavenger beetles and caterpillars.
In another sustainable practice, the farm integrates “ugly” vegetables in a circular economy.
Hunter Lin
Farm project manager
Leaves that are no good – we feed them to our cows, goats, and chickens, which produce excrement that we compost. After it’s composted, it becomes organic matter that makes our soil very fertile.
Over the years, practices like these have paid off, allowing a rich ecosystem to flourish. To showcase local wildlife, the farm started to offer night tours. The tour tonight is not for guests, but for new employees from Taiwan, Indonesia, and Vietnam, to familiarize them with the ecology.
Spiders, snails, and stick insects make an appearance. Two mating beetles become the talk of the evening.
These little animals are just a fraction of the wildlife that lives here. The most fascinating creatures remain out of sight, but can be observed with trail cameras. Here are wild boars, a family of three. A Formosan sambar deer on a slow ramble. Reeves’s muntjacs, frolicking through the forest. Such footage testifies to the unspoiled natural environment, which is part of why the farm received GSTC certification.
Leisure farms have existed in Taiwan for more than 30 years. Today, many have hit a ceiling in their growth.
Yan Jian-sian
Taiwan Leisure Agriculture Association
The farms have mainly reached two bottlenecks. First, they don’t offer enough. Most still only do food and drink and fun and maybe a few DIY activities. Once tourists have had the food and drink, they start looking for other destinations. The second thing is, after tourists do the same DIY activities for a while, they get bored.
Scholars suggest that green, sustainable tourism is the future. It could help leisure farms break past the growth ceiling, and even attract international tourists.
Besides drawing tourists from afar, the Yilan leisure farm also attracts global talent with its sustainable ethos. Its head chef hails from Switzerland. There’s Malaysian national Mah Sook Ling, who first came to the farm on a working holiday. Rachel, a Vietnamese graduate student, joined this week.
Mah Sook Ling
Malaysian farm staff
The first thing that made me want to come here was the natural environment. Just step out the office and you’re in the great outdoors. I’ve learned so much about their sustainable practices. To me, these are new ideas and concepts.
Through promoting Taiwan on the web, the foreign employees have brought more international exposure and tourists to the farm, creating a positive cycle that’s also been good for the Taiwanese workers.
Cho Chen-ming
Farm founder
When the first foreigner came, one with blond hair, it was so curious. All the employees hid away and stared and said, “How did a foreigner end up at our farm?” But over time, we got more and more foreign guests. We also saw lots of foreigners who came to work for room and board. The Taiwanese workers had opportunities for cultural exchange, and they began to realize that our farm was pretty nice.
By embracing nature and sustainability, Cho has blazed a trail for leisure farms, all while collaborating with the local community.
Cho and her daughter-in-law are at the docks, visiting a fishing family that upholds sustainability.
Lin Shu-chen’s family runs three fishing boats. The household shares Cho’s commitment to sustainability, refusing to use nets to catch fish.
Lin Shu-chen
Fisher
We use fishing rods, meaning that we only catch a few fish at most. The quantity is kept low, so we don’t throw off the balance of the marine ecosystem.
As they share the same values, their partnership is smooth and effortless. Visitors to the farm are offered a fishing port tour that enriches their stay. The tour also helps to fill Lin’s portside restaurant and to expand awareness of sustainable practices.
Cho also buys fresh produce from likeminded farmers.
Local farmer Chang Ming-li is committed to eco-friendly practices. Her fields are free from pesticides. She doesn’t even use fertilizer. Although her harvests are smaller, she says she feels richer for it.
Under the chef’s skillful hands, Chang’s crops become gourmet fare for tourists. Through partnerships like this, sustainably farmed products and their stories can reach a wider audience.
Chang Ming-li
Yilan farmer
The farm is quite internationalized, so lots of people go there. When they visit, they can eat the food we grow and possibly hear our stories. I believe there’s a lot of value in that. It can produce a spark that catches fire. It can achieve a ripple effect that brings greater visibility to our mission.
Under the ethos of sustainability, tourism can become more than food, drink, and fun. Travelers don’t just relish the moment, but do their part for the environment, preserving its beauty and diversity for the future.
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2023-12-17
