October 15, 2025 • 16 mins
Taiwan is known for its technology — from the chips that power our phones to the satellites orbiting above us, but just beyond the city of Hsinchu, there’s a small forest that tells a different story.
Trust in Nature Foundation Taiwan is Taiwan’s first environmental charitable trust — a place where protected wildlife and local communities are working side by side to protect some of the island’s natural habitats.
In this episode presented by Rosie Holdsworth, producer Jesse Edbrooke visits the people caring for this forest, meet the protected animals that live there, and explore how conservation can thrive and inspire in one of the most high-tech regions on Earth.
[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/
Nature Valley Environmental Trust Taiwan - https://teia.tw/natural-valley-en
Trust in Nature Founation - https://tnf.org.tw/en
Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts
Production:
Hosts: Rosie Holdsworth
Producer: Jesse Edbrooke
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez
Contributors: Jhih Han Lyu, Wing Lo,
Translation: Joshua Edbrooke
Discover More:
Includes music from Wing Lo’s Aha Moment - https://music.apple.com/gb/album/%E8%AB%8B%E8%AA%AA%E5%AE%A2%E8%AA%9E/1826949430?i=1826949431
Follow us @wildtales Instagram accountIf you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk
In this episode presented by Rosie Holdsworth, producer Jesse Edbrooke visits the people caring for this forest, meet the protected animals that live there, and explore how conservation can thrive and inspire in one of the most high-tech regions on Earth.
[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/
Nature Valley Environmental Trust Taiwan - https://teia.tw/natural-valley-en
Trust in Nature Founation - https://tnf.org.tw/en
Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts
Production:
Hosts: Rosie Holdsworth
Producer: Jesse Edbrooke
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez
Contributors: Jhih Han Lyu, Wing Lo,
Translation: Joshua Edbrooke
Discover More:
Includes music from Wing Lo’s Aha Moment - https://music.apple.com/gb/album/%E8%AB%8B%E8%AA%AA%E5%AE%A2%E8%AA%9E/1826949430?i=1826949431
Follow us @wildtales Instagram accountIf you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
JHIH HAN LYU (00:36):
So we see the pangolins here and we have the
crab-eating mongoose.
JESSE EDBROOKE (00:46):
That's the sound of a Taiwan eagle.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (00:52):
Taiwan is an island in the South China Sea
and it is one of the mosthigh-tech places on Earth. It's
also connected with each of ourlives.
Hsinchu City is like the SiliconValley of Taiwan and is not far
from the capital Taipei. Rows offactories and foundries produce
90% of the most advanced chipsin the world that power
(01:15):
everything from the phones inour hand, the computers on our
desks, smart speakers, even thesatellites orbiting above us.
But in such a futuristiclandscape, what does it take to
look after wildlife that isfighting for its place and
survival?
(01:36):
I'm Ranger Rosie Holdsworth. Forthis episode, podcast producer
Jesse Edbrooke travels to theforest in Taiwan on the trail of
some incredible wildlife.
Welcome to Wild Tales in NatureValley, Taiwan.
(02:07):
Jesse has taken the 40-minutehigh-speed rail journey from
Taipei in the north to Hsinchu,a bustling high-tech city.
He's here to meet Han, who ishelping to care for a former
plantation that's been placed ina trust to help protect wildlife
for the Nature ValleyEnvironmental Charity Trust,
Taiwan.
JHIH HAN LYU (02:33):
I think the weather is so nice. So it's like
summer day.
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:36):
It's so beautiful. So we're driving into
the mountains. Lots of amazingdifferent types of trees. These
banana trees?
JHIH HAN LYU (02:46):
Yeah, banana trees.
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:47):
Wow, okay.
JHIH HAN LYU (02:48):
It's really different from England, right?
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:50):
It is, yeah, absolutely.
JHIH HAN LYU (02:53):
Yeah, you can see the bamboos here. It's called
Gui zhu.
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:58):
So that's a special type of bamboo, is it?
JHIH HAN LYU (03:01):
Yeah. And you can eat it.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:03):
Oh, can you?
JHIH HAN LYU (03:04):
Yeah, in the spring. I will have the younger
one. Yeah, and you can cut andeat it.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:11):
Can you eat it fresh or do you have to cook it?
JHIH HAN LYU (03:13):
Yeah, you have to cook it.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:15):
Ok.
JHIH HAN LYU (03:16):
And it's a kind of traditional dish in Hakka
culture.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:20):
Yeah, it's interesting.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (03:22):
In Taiwan, people talk about food in a
similar way to British peopletalking about the weather.
There's always a delicious localspeciality dish in each town or
city. Bubble tea, xiao long baoand beef noodles are some famous
dishes that are now easy to findin many places around the world.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:46):
So this is beautiful.
JHIH HAN LYU (03:48):
This is also a Hakka house. And we are in Chong
Lin district.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:54):
So we're surrounded on all sides by
the... The forest...
JHIH HAN LYU (03:58):
Yes.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (03:59):
This 1.8 hectare area of forest has been
many things. In the 1970s, theslopes were planted with tea
trees. Later, it was bought by abusiness and the slopes were
populated with several differentkinds of orange tree. And then,
in 2011, the owner of the landdonated it to Trust In Nature
Foundation Taiwan, the veryfirst environmental charitable
(04:21):
trust in Taiwan.
JESSE EDBROOKE (04:23):
And so we've got these wooden tables. It's set
up, it's almost like for apicnic, with people coming to
have a picnic here.
JHIH HAN LYU (04:28):
It's kind of open to the public, so we will do
some education activities here.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (04:35):
For the local haka community, it was important
that their identity wascelebrated. Han, the section
chief of the Environmental TrustCentre, explains more.
JHIH HAN LYU (04:44):
There are more than 500 species living here. So
the first time I knew aboutthis, I was... Wow, it's
amazing. I didn't expect therewould be so many species around
me.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (04:59):
Part of the success of the project was
engaging with the local hakacommunity, and Nature Valley
involved local children inconservation and appreciating
the rare indigenous wildlife.What was once an abandoned farm
was becoming something elseentirely.
A place where the past, therhythms of farming, began to
meet a new future where land wasvalued not for what it produced
(05:22):
but for the life it sheltered.There are 25 protected species
that can be found in the forest.
JHIH HAN LYU (05:28):
So we see the pangolins here.
JESSE EDBROOKE (05:32):
So they're very rare, aren't they, pangolins?
JHIH HAN LYU (05:34):
Yeah.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (05:35):
Pangolins are shy, nocturnal mammals with
armoured scales and... Powerfuldigging skills. They're a
keystone species with a criticalrole in controlling
biodiversity. They're adept atclimbing trees and usually eat
20,000 ants and termites everyday with a long, sticky tongue.
Taiwan has successfully helpedpangolin numbers to recover
(05:57):
significantly.
JHIH HAN LYU (05:58):
And we have the crab-eating mongoose here.
JESSE EDBROOKE (06:03):
Wow. So how big do they grow to and what do they
look like?
JHIH HAN LYU (06:06):
I think like this...
JESSE EDBROOKE (06:06):
They're quite big.
JHIH HAN LYU (06:07):
Maybe one meter.
JESSE EDBROOKE (06:08):
One metre?
JHIH HAN LYU (06:10):
Yeah, including the long tail.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:12):
The crab-eating mongoose is a stocky
predator with a coarse grey coatand a distinctive pale stripe
along its side. It moves withcat-like grace. True to its
name, it prowls the edges ofrivers and ponds, prying under
rocks and roots for crabs,frogs, snails and the occasional
fish.
Unlike many of its relatives,this mongoose is comfortable in
(06:33):
water, swimming and diving withease. The numbers in Taiwan are
growing as they live in thisprotected habitat.
JHIH HAN LYU (06:41):
Many years ago, the people in the village, they
don't see this animal often. Soit's changing. We are curious
about this.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:51):
As Jesse moved through the forest to the top of
the incline, he was treated tothe sound of an iconic bird
soaring above the trees.
JHIH HAN LYU (06:59):
The sound of eagles.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:04):
So that's the sound of a Taiwan eagle.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (07:09):
The eagles are crested serpent eagles which
soar above the mountaintops inTaiwan. They mainly hunt snakes
and lizards, although they'lleat mammals and small frogs too.
And there was also danger fromone of the starkly black and
yellow insects.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:25):
Oh look, there's a really big spider. Hey look,
my kids will be so scared.
JHIH HAN LYU (07:30):
The poisonous spider.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:31):
Yes, it's the poisonous spider. I'm gonna tell
them.
JHIH HAN LYU (07:35):
But it won't kill you.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:37):
That's what I heard. Every spider in Taiwan is
poisonous. They just don't killyou.
JHIH HAN LYU (07:41):
Yeah. I mean the spider won't... They don't want
to bite you. They only want thefood.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:48):
Yeah, yeah. And those spiders, they can grow
quite big, can't they?
JHIH HAN LYU (07:52):
Yeah. They will be... Go like... It's like my
hand.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:58):
It can get as big as your hand?
JHIH HAN LYU (08:00):
Yeah, the female one. Wow. The female one is
bigger than the male.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (08:05):
The giant wood spider is the largest spider in
Taiwan and also one of the mostcommon, with golden hairs on its
back. If a human is bitten, thevenom can cause symptoms such as
nausea and vomiting. It's notlife-threatening. The silk the
spiders weave is so strong itcan be made into spider silk
clothes.
(08:28):
Looking after Nature Valley isno mean feat and the team are
always busy.
JESSE EDBROOKE (08:34):
So tell me what kinds of responsibilities you
have in looking after the land?
JHIH HAN LYU (08:38):
We need to maintain this habitat because we
need to protect the forest likethis. It's a low elevation
forest.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (08:47):
Han explained why she gave up a promising
career in law to work in thecharity sector, caring for the
forest.
JESSE EDBROOKE (08:54):
What was it like the first day when you stopped
working in law in an office andwalked into the jungle?
JHIH HAN LYU (09:02):
Oh, I feel like I get some freedom because I like
walking in the mountains ordoing some hiking. To me, it
keeps me that I can feel I'malive. It's not sitting in a
building all day long. I feelhappy when I do this job. Yeah.
(09:24):
Sometimes I will talk with thevisitors. They will give me some
really good feedback. I thinkit's a meaningful part of my
job.
JESSE EDBROOKE (09:33):
Yeah, so what kind of feedback will they give
you?
JHIH HAN LYU (09:35):
They see the special things in a common
place. They can build connectionwith this land.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:43):
Building connection with nature helps
enthuse locals and protect theland. But there are also
individuals helping to keep theHakka culture alive. Not far
from the Nature Valley in ChongLin is a studio where sounds are
being created to further thismission.
Jesse spent time chatting with athree times platinum and
(10:05):
multi-gold melody winning artistwho's written, produced and
performed music all over Asia.
His music's been streamedhundreds of millions of times
and his latest album wasrecorded powered only by solar
energy. He's also of Hakkaorigin.
JESSE EDBROOKE (10:22):
We're here in the studio and please can you
introduce yourself?
WING LO (10:25):
Yeah, hello everyone. My name is Wing. Welcome to my
house.
JESSE EDBROOKE (10:28):
Great.
WING LO (10:29):
Yeah.
JESSE EDBROOKE (10:33):
Can you please say a little bit about your
music?
JOSHUA EDBROOKE (10:36):
Wayne was explaining that he used to write
predominantly in MandarinChinese until around about 10
years ago he discovered that theHakka language in Taiwan was on
the demise. And there were lessand less people who were
speaking Hakka.
And actually, if this trendcontinues, the Hakka language
(10:58):
would die out in Taiwan. AndWing, whose mother tongue is
Hakka, decided that actuallymusic is one of the best tools
of language preservation. And sohe started to write pop songs in
Hakka.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (11:17):
Wing's songs have now become part of a new
wave of pop culture celebratingthe Hakka identity. He explained
what characterises this Hakkasense of identity.
JOSHUA EDBROOKE (11:30):
The Chinese word in Mandarin to describe the
Hakka people, Ke Jiaren. The Ke,it represents a guest or someone
who is from another place. Andthat slightly represents the
ancestors of the Hakka people inTaiwan who have come from
elsewhere. They've come fromother lands and settled in
Taiwan.
And when you emigrate in thatsense, you have to start from
(11:54):
nothing. So then in music andcultural terms, then you also
have traditional songs that havecome out of that sense of
building up a life from zero. SoWing mentioned the Shan ge, like
the mountain songs of the Hakkapeople, and other kind of
traditional folk music.
But what Wing's doing is takingthose elements of the language
(12:17):
and the culture, but puttingthem into pop music, pop videos,
even the live concerts that he'sdoing, to make it accessible.
Put that identity in, but tokind of let identity evolve so
that it can remain.
JESSE EDBROOKE (12:30):
Thank you so much, Wing. Yeah, I really
appreciate it.
WING LO (12:32):
My pleasure. Great.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (12:41):
Returning to Nature Valley. As with any
charity, fundraising is key. Inorder to keep looking after the
wildlife and employing staff,the charity has to raise funds.
JESSE EDBROOKE (12:52):
This afternoon, you're going to the high-speed
rail station. Yeah. What are yougoing to do there?
JHIH HAN LYU (12:56):
Well, we will go to the car park to receive our
donation box. When you buy somefood in a convenience store, you
will get a kind of receipt. Andthe receipt, you can check the
numbers. If the number iscorrect, you will get money.
Yeah, it's like 200 Taiwanesedollars or 10 million. Biggest
(13:19):
one. Okay. Yeah, 10 million.
JESSE EDBROOKE (13:20):
That's an amazing way of supporting you.
So everything you buy from abottle of water, some sweets,
you can just get the receipt,pop it in the box, and then it's
a chance that you might win thelottery. Yeah, yeah. And pay the
tax.
JHIH HAN LYU (13:37):
And buy the trail camera.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:40):
And how about plans for the future?
JHIH HAN LYU (13:42):
Or once. We can get more and more trust land. So
we can show what we do here tothe public that environmental
trust, it can be successful.Yes. It can protect nature
forever.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:59):
And with that, it was time to thank Han and her
team and get back on the Taiwanhigh-speed rail from Hsinchu to
Taipei.
Today, Nature Valley is morethan 1.8 hectares of land. It's
a bridge between technology andtradition, between endangered
(14:20):
species and everyday life,between the Hakka past and
Taiwan's future.
And so, on the edge of theworld's most advanced technology
hub, pangolins dig theirburrows, children are enthused
about conservation, and an oldHakka house welcomes new
stories. In this small valley,the wild and the human find a
(14:40):
way to harmonise together.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of Wild Tales. If you
liked it, why not give us a likeor a follow? Don't forget your
(15:03):
National Trust membership alsooffers you access to Nature
Valley Environmental Trust asit's part of the International
National Trust's organisation.
We'll be back soon with anotherepisode in a couple of weeks.
But if you can't wait that long,why not check out our other
nature podcast, Nature Fix. Orif you like your history too,
there's Back When. I'll see younext time.
So we see the pangolins here and we have the
crab-eating mongoose.
JESSE EDBROOKE (00:46):
That's the sound of a Taiwan eagle.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (00:52):
Taiwan is an island in the South China Sea
and it is one of the mosthigh-tech places on Earth. It's
also connected with each of ourlives.
Hsinchu City is like the SiliconValley of Taiwan and is not far
from the capital Taipei. Rows offactories and foundries produce
90% of the most advanced chipsin the world that power
(01:15):
everything from the phones inour hand, the computers on our
desks, smart speakers, even thesatellites orbiting above us.
But in such a futuristiclandscape, what does it take to
look after wildlife that isfighting for its place and
survival?
(01:36):
I'm Ranger Rosie Holdsworth. Forthis episode, podcast producer
Jesse Edbrooke travels to theforest in Taiwan on the trail of
some incredible wildlife.
Welcome to Wild Tales in NatureValley, Taiwan.
(02:07):
Jesse has taken the 40-minutehigh-speed rail journey from
Taipei in the north to Hsinchu,a bustling high-tech city.
He's here to meet Han, who ishelping to care for a former
plantation that's been placed ina trust to help protect wildlife
for the Nature ValleyEnvironmental Charity Trust,
Taiwan.
JHIH HAN LYU (02:33):
I think the weather is so nice. So it's like
summer day.
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:36):
It's so beautiful. So we're driving into
the mountains. Lots of amazingdifferent types of trees. These
banana trees?
JHIH HAN LYU (02:46):
Yeah, banana trees.
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:47):
Wow, okay.
JHIH HAN LYU (02:48):
It's really different from England, right?
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:50):
It is, yeah, absolutely.
JHIH HAN LYU (02:53):
Yeah, you can see the bamboos here. It's called
Gui zhu.
JESSE EDBROOKE (02:58):
So that's a special type of bamboo, is it?
JHIH HAN LYU (03:01):
Yeah. And you can eat it.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:03):
Oh, can you?
JHIH HAN LYU (03:04):
Yeah, in the spring. I will have the younger
one. Yeah, and you can cut andeat it.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:11):
Can you eat it fresh or do you have to cook it?
JHIH HAN LYU (03:13):
Yeah, you have to cook it.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:15):
Ok.
JHIH HAN LYU (03:16):
And it's a kind of traditional dish in Hakka
culture.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:20):
Yeah, it's interesting.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (03:22):
In Taiwan, people talk about food in a
similar way to British peopletalking about the weather.
There's always a delicious localspeciality dish in each town or
city. Bubble tea, xiao long baoand beef noodles are some famous
dishes that are now easy to findin many places around the world.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:46):
So this is beautiful.
JHIH HAN LYU (03:48):
This is also a Hakka house. And we are in Chong
Lin district.
JESSE EDBROOKE (03:54):
So we're surrounded on all sides by
the... The forest...
JHIH HAN LYU (03:58):
Yes.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (03:59):
This 1.8 hectare area of forest has been
many things. In the 1970s, theslopes were planted with tea
trees. Later, it was bought by abusiness and the slopes were
populated with several differentkinds of orange tree. And then,
in 2011, the owner of the landdonated it to Trust In Nature
Foundation Taiwan, the veryfirst environmental charitable
(04:21):
trust in Taiwan.
JESSE EDBROOKE (04:23):
And so we've got these wooden tables. It's set
up, it's almost like for apicnic, with people coming to
have a picnic here.
JHIH HAN LYU (04:28):
It's kind of open to the public, so we will do
some education activities here.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (04:35):
For the local haka community, it was important
that their identity wascelebrated. Han, the section
chief of the Environmental TrustCentre, explains more.
JHIH HAN LYU (04:44):
There are more than 500 species living here. So
the first time I knew aboutthis, I was... Wow, it's
amazing. I didn't expect therewould be so many species around
me.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (04:59):
Part of the success of the project was
engaging with the local hakacommunity, and Nature Valley
involved local children inconservation and appreciating
the rare indigenous wildlife.What was once an abandoned farm
was becoming something elseentirely.
A place where the past, therhythms of farming, began to
meet a new future where land wasvalued not for what it produced
(05:22):
but for the life it sheltered.There are 25 protected species
that can be found in the forest.
JHIH HAN LYU (05:28):
So we see the pangolins here.
JESSE EDBROOKE (05:32):
So they're very rare, aren't they, pangolins?
JHIH HAN LYU (05:34):
Yeah.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (05:35):
Pangolins are shy, nocturnal mammals with
armoured scales and... Powerfuldigging skills. They're a
keystone species with a criticalrole in controlling
biodiversity. They're adept atclimbing trees and usually eat
20,000 ants and termites everyday with a long, sticky tongue.
Taiwan has successfully helpedpangolin numbers to recover
(05:57):
significantly.
JHIH HAN LYU (05:58):
And we have the crab-eating mongoose here.
JESSE EDBROOKE (06:03):
Wow. So how big do they grow to and what do they
look like?
JHIH HAN LYU (06:06):
I think like this...
JESSE EDBROOKE (06:06):
They're quite big.
JHIH HAN LYU (06:07):
Maybe one meter.
JESSE EDBROOKE (06:08):
One metre?
JHIH HAN LYU (06:10):
Yeah, including the long tail.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:12):
The crab-eating mongoose is a stocky
predator with a coarse grey coatand a distinctive pale stripe
along its side. It moves withcat-like grace. True to its
name, it prowls the edges ofrivers and ponds, prying under
rocks and roots for crabs,frogs, snails and the occasional
fish.
Unlike many of its relatives,this mongoose is comfortable in
(06:33):
water, swimming and diving withease. The numbers in Taiwan are
growing as they live in thisprotected habitat.
JHIH HAN LYU (06:41):
Many years ago, the people in the village, they
don't see this animal often. Soit's changing. We are curious
about this.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:51):
As Jesse moved through the forest to the top of
the incline, he was treated tothe sound of an iconic bird
soaring above the trees.
JHIH HAN LYU (06:59):
The sound of eagles.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:04):
So that's the sound of a Taiwan eagle.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (07:09):
The eagles are crested serpent eagles which
soar above the mountaintops inTaiwan. They mainly hunt snakes
and lizards, although they'lleat mammals and small frogs too.
And there was also danger fromone of the starkly black and
yellow insects.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:25):
Oh look, there's a really big spider. Hey look,
my kids will be so scared.
JHIH HAN LYU (07:30):
The poisonous spider.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:31):
Yes, it's the poisonous spider. I'm gonna tell
them.
JHIH HAN LYU (07:35):
But it won't kill you.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:37):
That's what I heard. Every spider in Taiwan is
poisonous. They just don't killyou.
JHIH HAN LYU (07:41):
Yeah. I mean the spider won't... They don't want
to bite you. They only want thefood.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:48):
Yeah, yeah. And those spiders, they can grow
quite big, can't they?
JHIH HAN LYU (07:52):
Yeah. They will be... Go like... It's like my
hand.
JESSE EDBROOKE (07:58):
It can get as big as your hand?
JHIH HAN LYU (08:00):
Yeah, the female one. Wow. The female one is
bigger than the male.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (08:05):
The giant wood spider is the largest spider in
Taiwan and also one of the mostcommon, with golden hairs on its
back. If a human is bitten, thevenom can cause symptoms such as
nausea and vomiting. It's notlife-threatening. The silk the
spiders weave is so strong itcan be made into spider silk
clothes.
(08:28):
Looking after Nature Valley isno mean feat and the team are
always busy.
JESSE EDBROOKE (08:34):
So tell me what kinds of responsibilities you
have in looking after the land?
JHIH HAN LYU (08:38):
We need to maintain this habitat because we
need to protect the forest likethis. It's a low elevation
forest.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (08:47):
Han explained why she gave up a promising
career in law to work in thecharity sector, caring for the
forest.
JESSE EDBROOKE (08:54):
What was it like the first day when you stopped
working in law in an office andwalked into the jungle?
JHIH HAN LYU (09:02):
Oh, I feel like I get some freedom because I like
walking in the mountains ordoing some hiking. To me, it
keeps me that I can feel I'malive. It's not sitting in a
building all day long. I feelhappy when I do this job. Yeah.
(09:24):
Sometimes I will talk with thevisitors. They will give me some
really good feedback. I thinkit's a meaningful part of my
job.
JESSE EDBROOKE (09:33):
Yeah, so what kind of feedback will they give
you?
JHIH HAN LYU (09:35):
They see the special things in a common
place. They can build connectionwith this land.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:43):
Building connection with nature helps
enthuse locals and protect theland. But there are also
individuals helping to keep theHakka culture alive. Not far
from the Nature Valley in ChongLin is a studio where sounds are
being created to further thismission.
Jesse spent time chatting with athree times platinum and
(10:05):
multi-gold melody winning artistwho's written, produced and
performed music all over Asia.
His music's been streamedhundreds of millions of times
and his latest album wasrecorded powered only by solar
energy. He's also of Hakkaorigin.
JESSE EDBROOKE (10:22):
We're here in the studio and please can you
introduce yourself?
WING LO (10:25):
Yeah, hello everyone. My name is Wing. Welcome to my
house.
JESSE EDBROOKE (10:28):
Great.
WING LO (10:29):
Yeah.
JESSE EDBROOKE (10:33):
Can you please say a little bit about your
music?
JOSHUA EDBROOKE (10:36):
Wayne was explaining that he used to write
predominantly in MandarinChinese until around about 10
years ago he discovered that theHakka language in Taiwan was on
the demise. And there were lessand less people who were
speaking Hakka.
And actually, if this trendcontinues, the Hakka language
(10:58):
would die out in Taiwan. AndWing, whose mother tongue is
Hakka, decided that actuallymusic is one of the best tools
of language preservation. And sohe started to write pop songs in
Hakka.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (11:17):
Wing's songs have now become part of a new
wave of pop culture celebratingthe Hakka identity. He explained
what characterises this Hakkasense of identity.
JOSHUA EDBROOKE (11:30):
The Chinese word in Mandarin to describe the
Hakka people, Ke Jiaren. The Ke,it represents a guest or someone
who is from another place. Andthat slightly represents the
ancestors of the Hakka people inTaiwan who have come from
elsewhere. They've come fromother lands and settled in
Taiwan.
And when you emigrate in thatsense, you have to start from
(11:54):
nothing. So then in music andcultural terms, then you also
have traditional songs that havecome out of that sense of
building up a life from zero. SoWing mentioned the Shan ge, like
the mountain songs of the Hakkapeople, and other kind of
traditional folk music.
But what Wing's doing is takingthose elements of the language
(12:17):
and the culture, but puttingthem into pop music, pop videos,
even the live concerts that he'sdoing, to make it accessible.
Put that identity in, but tokind of let identity evolve so
that it can remain.
JESSE EDBROOKE (12:30):
Thank you so much, Wing. Yeah, I really
appreciate it.
WING LO (12:32):
My pleasure. Great.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (12:41):
Returning to Nature Valley. As with any
charity, fundraising is key. Inorder to keep looking after the
wildlife and employing staff,the charity has to raise funds.
JESSE EDBROOKE (12:52):
This afternoon, you're going to the high-speed
rail station. Yeah. What are yougoing to do there?
JHIH HAN LYU (12:56):
Well, we will go to the car park to receive our
donation box. When you buy somefood in a convenience store, you
will get a kind of receipt. Andthe receipt, you can check the
numbers. If the number iscorrect, you will get money.
Yeah, it's like 200 Taiwanesedollars or 10 million. Biggest
(13:19):
one. Okay. Yeah, 10 million.
JESSE EDBROOKE (13:20):
That's an amazing way of supporting you.
So everything you buy from abottle of water, some sweets,
you can just get the receipt,pop it in the box, and then it's
a chance that you might win thelottery. Yeah, yeah. And pay the
tax.
JHIH HAN LYU (13:37):
And buy the trail camera.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:40):
And how about plans for the future?
JHIH HAN LYU (13:42):
Or once. We can get more and more trust land. So
we can show what we do here tothe public that environmental
trust, it can be successful.Yes. It can protect nature
forever.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:59):
And with that, it was time to thank Han and her
team and get back on the Taiwanhigh-speed rail from Hsinchu to
Taipei.
Today, Nature Valley is morethan 1.8 hectares of land. It's
a bridge between technology andtradition, between endangered
(14:20):
species and everyday life,between the Hakka past and
Taiwan's future.
And so, on the edge of theworld's most advanced technology
hub, pangolins dig theirburrows, children are enthused
about conservation, and an oldHakka house welcomes new
stories. In this small valley,the wild and the human find a
(14:40):
way to harmonise together.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of Wild Tales. If you
liked it, why not give us a likeor a follow? Don't forget your
(15:03):
National Trust membership alsooffers you access to Nature
Valley Environmental Trust asit's part of the International
National Trust's organisation.
We'll be back soon with anotherepisode in a couple of weeks.
But if you can't wait that long,why not check out our other
nature podcast, Nature Fix. Orif you like your history too,
there's Back When. I'll see younext time.
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