Discovering the secret abode of an old Bishop wood

Tucked away in the low-lying mountains of Taitung are countless 300 to 400 year-old trees that have silently witnessed the vicissitudes of the area’s long history. Recently, with the help of a local resident, we were led to an old Bishop wood (Bischofia javanica) located beside a ravine around 300 meters just off the road from Fudong Highway. The fact that the area is carpeted in dense forest means that this old Bishop wood is difficult find and known only to a handful of people, and is perhaps the reason it has been spared the fate of being felled.

With a trunk free from injury and a glorious green crown, this old Bishop wood may well be the most luxuriant tree growing in Taitung County today. As this recently discovered Bishop wood is still not protected under law, it is recommended that Donghe Township Office immediately files an application to secure protection status for the tree, and avoid it being illegally logged.

Discovering the secret abode of an old Bishop wood

URL: http://www.peopo.org/news/268561 

(以下是中文對照)

發現茄苳老樹祕境

台東山區中低海拔地區有不少三四百年的老樹，默默見證著台東的歷史滄桑，最近只有極少數人知道的一棵茄苳老樹在東河鄉被批露，在台東居民鍾運祥的引領下，公民記者前往一窺究竟。這棵茄苳樹位在東富公路旁三百公尺左右的山溝邊，但是因為雜林遮隱並不容易被發現，因此才能逃過被砍伐的命運，整株樹完整無傷，樹冠翠綠，可能是台東縣內已知老樹中生命力最旺盛的一棵。這個公開不久還未被列入保護的茄苳祕境，公民記者建議當務之急要請東河鄉公所趕快查報並向台東縣政府農業局提出列入老樹保護申請，以免被盜伐。