On March 8, Taoyuan Mayor Chang Shan-Cheng attended the Arbor Day event at Qinxi Park, located in the Gongyi Xinghe Special District near the Taoyuan Airport MRT A20 Station in Zhongli District. Mayor Chang highlighted that this year’s Arbor Day focused on planting Taiwanese fringe trees, a Taoyuan native species, along the picturesque Laojie River. This initiative aims to deepen the roots of native species in Taoyuan. The city government plans to accelerate tree planting efforts by increasing green areas during the renovation and development of parks, creating lush recreational spaces.
During the event, Mayor Chang also demonstrated and explored the application of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) in forest conservation. He noted that the city government intends to utilize this technology for monitoring tree growth, replacing traditional manual measurements of tree girth, thereby enhancing Taoyuan’s greening efficiency.
Promoting smart agricultural machinery technology has been a key policy of the city government. LiDAR can survey trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) exceeding 5 centimeters, providing detailed data on forest distribution, density, and tree height. This technology can also be applied to monitor crop growth, improve agricultural productivity, and assist in strategic greening layouts, enhancing green space utilization and strengthening the urban ecosystem. Additionally, it can be applied in various fields, including carbon sequestration assessments, species zoning and classification analysis, ancient tree monitoring, and slope analysis using tree displacement data.