Located in the mountains of Dahu Township, Miaoli County, the Grow Tree Forest Leisure Farm (山上種樹牛樟森林休閒農場) was founded by Lan Kai-han (藍凱翰) and Chang Shu-rong (張書榕) in 2015. After graduating from university, the husband and wife went to China to run the family's ceramic raw materials business for seven years, but due to a subsequent decrease in orders, Lan decided to take his wife back to Taiwan. With no agricultural background, the couple returned home to learn tree planting, took over the forest cultivated by his father in the past, and engaged in afforestation and restoration of Taiwan's national treasure tree species—Cinnamomum kanehirai Hayata or stout camphor tree.

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Stout camphor is a large evergreen broad-leaved tree unique to Taiwan. It is a strong upper-layer dominant tree in the forest. Its growth area ranges from subtropical to warm rain forests. It grows at an altitude of 450 to 1,800 meters above sea level. However, at present, stout camphor tree only exists in the middle and high-altitude mountainous areas of Taiwan’s main island, with individual trees scattered here and there and mostly aged trees remaining. Such scattered distribution is not conducive to insect vector pollination. In addition, birds and squirrels love to peck or chew on the trees’ fruits. Even though the trees are full of fruits in the early stage, the immature fruits are later eaten by wild animals, making stout camphor tree seeds even more rare. As for the tree’s wood, it is rich in terpineol, which makes it not easily able to decay, grow mould, or be eaten by insects. The wood material is also fine and interlaced, making it easy for carpenters to pare or shape it. Therefore, it has gradually become a high-value furniture and woodcarving material.

Antrodia cinnamomea is a saprophytic fungus that parasitizes on the stout camphor trees. It has the reputation of being the "Ruby of the Forest" in Taiwan. Under natural conditions, it only grows on the hollow heartwood in the trunk of the camphor trees. Native only to Taiwan, its traces can be seen from 200 to 1,500 meters above sea level. Antrodia cinnamomea and stout camphor trees have a special parasitic relationship. Antrodia cinnamomea is the only large saprophytic mushroom found on the Cinnamomum tree; that is to say, Antrodia cinnamomea does not grow on other tree species under natural conditions, and there are no other mushrooms that grow on the stout camphor trees except for Antrodia cinnamomea.

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According to research and discussions in relevant medical literature, moderate supplementation of Antrodia cinnamomea in one’s diet can regulate immunity, fight cancer, protect the liver, and benefit health in many ways. For more than 10 years, many biotech companies have invested in the research and development of cultivation technology, which has turned Antrodia cinnamomea into a hot health product, but this has unintentionally contributed to the illegal harvesting of Antrodia cinnamomea and the illegal logging of Cinnamomum trees.

Lan Kai-han and his wife Chang Shu-rong are doing their best to cultivate Cinnamomum trees, which are becoming scarce. They also plant coffee under the trees based on the concept of under-forest economy. At the same time, they have begun to develop various cinnamomum products, such as using cinnamomum strains fermented with coffee to make cinnamomum coffee, which has a special taste. They have also artificially cultivated Antrodia camphora and used the leftover wood from the trees to make plant potters.

(Image: FTV)