The Forestry and Conservation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture in Taiwan has completed the construction of 3,420 road signs and 1,381 mobile phone communication points in forests to reduce the number of accident cases, which have been increasing since restrictions were eased on access to forestry roads.
According to the Forestry Conservation Agency, Taiwan’s mountains and forests are vast, and improving safety requires the joint efforts of the government and the private sector.
The Forestry Conservation Department, the National Communications Commission, the Ministry of Digital Development and various non-governmental telecommunications companies have worked together to take stock of popular hiking routes and improve the quality of communication in mountainous areas.
The Forestry Conservation Department has cooperated with non-governmental mountaineering and hiking groups to build simple road signs, which are based on the principle of one sign every 100 metres. The contents of the board are easy to understand, clearly indicating the route name, start and end point, mileage distance and coordinates and other information.
To date, 3,420 signs have been set up, as well as 1,381 signs showing mobile phone coverage spots, and staff will update and maintain them every year.
The agency also urged visitors to download maps from the government website before hiking.
