Dedicated academics are healing Hualien’s landslide-scourged forests
Dedicated academics are healing Hualien’s landslide-scourged forests
2026-09-07
Hualien has seen one disaster after another, leaving the upper reaches of the Mataian Creek with vast piles of rubble on mountains that lookshockingly barren. There is a need for reforestation, but the traditional way of climbing mountains and manually planting seeds is not only dangerous, but also has a low seed survival rate. A dedicated team at National Ilan University has come up with a solution that involve using drones to drop cultivated native tree seed ballson the mountains. Let’s find out how they are restoring Taiwan’s forests, tree by tree.
Round, translucent crystal balls are stacked in a Petri dish, looking like marbles or longans. However, they are a secret weapon for restoring Taiwan’s forests.
Push open the laboratory door, and researchers are busy placing seeds into a compound solution of sodium alginate and calcium chloride. After a few minutes, tiny "germinating pearls" are born.
Chung Chih-hsin
National Ilan University
Actually, we usually choose native Taiwanese species—specifically sun-loving trees that are well-suited for these landslide areas, such as the Taiwan crepe myrtle, Formosa acacia and similar species.
On July 21 last year, Tropical Storm Wipha caused a large-scale landslide in the upper reaches of the Mataian Creek in Hualien, covering an area of 500 hectares and creating a barrier lake. The massive loss of soil and rock also created a crisis of exposed barren mountains. However, traditional "dry granulation" mostly makes use of soil pressure, which, while fast, makes the granules prone to cracking, being eaten by small animals and lacking the moisture needed for germination. Chung Chih-hsin, an associate professor in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at National Ilan University, led an interdisciplinary team to develop "wet seed granulation," using sodium alginate to create "moisturizing capsules." This April, they successfully airdropped 40,000 native tree seed balls onto the upper reaches of the Mataian Creek using drones, and they have already successfully germinated.
Chung Chih-hsin
National Ilan University
The last task we did was to produce 40,000 seeds at once, but of course we can still make adjustments based on timing and the rainy season. Our observation is that the success rate for this seed granulation is about 80%.
Faced with Taiwan’s barren, landslide-prone high mountains, traditional reforestation methods face severe challenges. Through technological innovation, there is hope that these fractured forests can be revitalized.
#Reforestation #Taiwandisasters #landslides #disasterrecovery #Hualien
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宜大研發"發芽珍珠"助療傷 空投萬顆搶救花蓮禿山
2026-09-07
花蓮馬太鞍溪上游，在歷經多次地質災害後，留下大片怵目驚心的裸露禿山。傳統的人工爬山種樹，不僅危險、樹木種子的存活率也不高。不過，現在國立宜蘭大學團隊研發出全新的「山林復育神隊友」，要用無人機進行空投「會發芽的珍珠」，幫大自然療傷！
一顆顆圓滾滾的半透明水晶球，堆疊在培養皿內，看起來就像之前流行的"水晶寶寶"，又像是龍眼，不過這可是復育台灣山林的秘密武器。
推開實驗室門，研究人員正忙著把種子，放進海藻酸鈉及氯化鈣複合溶液裡，等待幾分鐘，一顆顆「發芽珍珠」，就誕生了。
[[宜蘭大學森林系系主任 鍾智昕]]
"其實我們通常都是選台灣在地原生種，然後但是它是比較適合在這些崩塌地的陽性樹種，像是九芎、相思樹，這一類相關的樹種。"
去年7月21日，薇帕颱風導致花蓮馬太鞍溪上游發生大規模崩塌，面積達到五百公頃，更形成堰塞湖，大量土石流失，也造成裸露禿山的危機。但傳統"乾式造粒"，大多只用土壤加壓，雖然製作快速，但容易破裂、被小動物吃掉，也缺少發芽需要的水分，宜蘭大學森林系副教授鍾智昕，率領跨院系團隊研發"濕式種子造粒"，運用海藻酸鈉製作"保濕膠囊"，今年4月，已經成功用無人機，空投4萬顆原生樹種子球，到馬太鞍溪上游，目前已成功萌芽。
[[宜蘭大學森林系系主任 鍾智昕]]
"上一次的任務是一次做好四萬顆，那當然我們還是可以搭配時間跟雨季來做一些調整。我們大概這個造粒種子，我們觀察是大概有八成的一個那個成功率。"
面對台灣高山貧瘠崩塌地，傳統復育面臨嚴峻考驗，透過科技技術，希望為破碎山林帶來生機。
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