Pingtung County Wins 4 Top Awards for Indigenous Trail and Cultural Site Maintenance

Central News Agency (Reporter Huang Yu-ching, Pingtung, May 27) In the 2025 evaluation of the Council of Indigenous Peoples' "Indigenous Land Trails, Cultural Sites, and Environmental Sustainability Investigation and Maintenance Project," Pingtung County won four major awards, ranking first in the country. The achievements include the maintenance of over 1,233 kilometers of trails and sites, showing outstanding performance. The Pingtung County Government's Indigenous Affairs Department issued a press release today stating that at the annual training and 2025 project evaluation awards ceremony held by the Council of Indigenous Peoples, Pingtung County won four "Special Excellence" and "Excellence" awards, accounting for half of the national awards and ranking first in the country. The Pingtung County Government has been recognized with outstanding awards for three consecutive years, demonstrating its strength in indigenous cultural preservation and forest sustainability. The Indigenous Affairs Department pointed out that Pingtung currently has eight indigenous land trail, cultural site, and environmental sustainability maintenance teams. In 2025, 59 local personnel were deployed to carry out long-term patrols, investigations, and maintenance work in the mountains. They completed the sustainable use of traditional tribal ecological resources over an area of more than 1,073 hectares and maintained over 1,233 kilometers of trails and cultural sites, showing impressive results in manpower deployment, maintenance scale, and execution. The Indigenous Affairs Department explained that among the award-winning units, the Mudan Township Office has won the Special Excellence Award for four consecutive years, remaining among the best in the country. The Laiyi Township Office was recognized for its efforts in maintaining the Kunlun'ao Trail and the Erfeng Canal environmental education field. The Wutai Township Office, with only six team members, stood out by completing the survey and recording of ethnic plants and traditional ecological knowledge, also winning an Excellence Award. The Indigenous Affairs Department emphasized that indigenous trails, cultural sites, and traditional ecological wisdom are not only precious cultural assets but also the foundation connecting tribes to the land. In recent years, the county government has continued to promote mountain forest industries and sustainable tribal development. Through the long-term patrol and maintenance work of the conservation teams, it has not only preserved indigenous traditional culture and the natural environment but also gradually shaped eco-tourism and environmental education fields with local characteristics. The Indigenous Affairs Department mentioned that in the future, the county government will continue to work with tribes to deepen cultural revitalization, cultivate local talent, and jointly build an indigenous development model that combines cultural heritage and environmental sustainability.