Forests used to flourish in Kinmen. However, excessive lumbering for salt boiling in Yuan Dynasty and for shipbuilding by Cheng Cheng-gong in Ming Dynasty and wars and conflicts in the past centuries, as well as rapine and deforestation by local inhabitants, had left Kinmen and its inhabitants suffering from barren hills, sand storms and droughts.
In the winter of 1950, President Chiang Kai-shek visited Kinmen. Shocked by the sterile lands and privation that his people were suffering from, President Chiang demanded a large scale forestation. Upon receiving his order, all soldiers and residents united and, with the belief that man will conquer nature and a will to break the hardest rock, engaged all endeavor into the reform from wastelands to fertile soils and from a deserted island to a national park – four decades later, greens, fruits and nature beauty flourish once again. Nowadays, Kinmen presents itself with prosperous hills and greens along with green shades along streets and happy lives of its residents – all these are the very heritage from President Chiang and the fruit of endeavors from all soldiers and residents. Gallery display in the archives has offered the very ground for education and study, delivering a hope for all of us to remember the hardship of forestation, and to understand and cherish, protect our forests. |
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