Biocultural Diversity in Action: The Paiwan Kuskus Tribe’s Forest-Based Industries in Pingtung, Taiwan
The Indigenous Paiwan Kuskus Tribe, located in Mudan Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan, has an estimated 600-year history based on archaeological evidence. The Pingtung Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency has long supported the tribe through forest and resource surveys, tribal mapping, and documentation of traditional practices in farming, fishing, hunting, and settlement. In 2021, the Branch co-organized Resilience Assessment Workshops (RAWs) with the Kuskus community, engaging elders, the village head, the community development association, and the youth association. The workshops identified key challenges—such as the need to strengthen ecological stewardship by weaving Indigenous knowledge with modern technologies, water scarcity, illegal logging and poaching, and natural disasters affecting farming and livestock—and helped shape solutions focused on conserving and using local resources, promoting traditional knowledge, improving governance, and enhancing family livelihoods and welfare.
Photo and video gallery
Impacts
Through the Resilience Assessment Workshops (RAWs), the Kuskus Tribe addressed five priority issues with concrete solutions.
Conserving natural resources: patrol teams were formed to monitor forests, rivers, and cultural heritage sites, curbing illegal logging and poaching.
Utilizing local resources : industries such as shiitake mushroom cultivation were developed, with plans to expand training in under-forest economy courses for sustainable practices.
Promoting traditional knowledge with modern technologies : elders safeguarded cultural heritage through videos and research, while future efforts aim to archive and share this knowledge widely.
Improving governance : the community development association fosters consensus on sustainable management, organizes open discussions, and encourages youth participation without constraints.
Enhancing family livelihood and welfare : young people are learning traditional skills, such as house building, to sustain cultural values while adapting them to modern needs.
Rooted in the Satoyama Initiative, youth also engage in projects surveying and restoring plants named after Kuskus, researching and using Indigenous plants, developing tribal farming tours, and designing forest experiences with agri-food education. These initiatives strengthen cultural identity, empower youth, and build capacity to steward forests and develop diverse biocultural industries.