TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Environment has awarded Taitung County’s Luanshan Forest Museum with an environmental education certification.

The ministry held a review meeting on March 4 and awarded the certification, praising the museum for its interactive methods and promoting respect for the environment, per CNA. The museum became Taitung County’s seventh site to earn the award.

Head of Waste Management Section of Taitung County’s Environmental Protection Bureau Feng Su-yun (馮素雲) said in a CNA interview the founder and residents have diligently safeguarded the land.

“They also make good use of local resources to promote environmental education, enabling people to understand the significant importance of preserving the forest for tribes and the environment,” he said.

Museum founder and director Aliman (阿力曼) said he established the museum to preserve the tribal forest. A member of the Sazasa (Luanshan) tribe of the Bunun Indigenous people, Aliman said he hopes through ecotourism that tribal youths will return to their hometowns and preserve tribal culture.

Aliman added that more than 200,000 people have visited the museum over the past 20 years. To preserve the forest and Bunun culture, he said he advocated for protection.

“The primary goal was that the forest museum started with the rescue of forest land, aiming to restore the sustainability between humanity and nature,” Aliman said. “The museum does not seek to showcase the greatness of human knowledge and power, on the contrary, it humbly invites people to enter the forest and become a part of it.”