Techi Reservoir Landslide Restoration: Drone Seeding Gradually Restores Slope Vegetation

Central News Agency, Taichung, June 2. The Taichung Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency is promoting vegetation restoration in the Techi Reservoir watershed. Since 2024, they have introduced drone-based aerial seeding of native plant seeds. To date, the restored area covers approximately 1.7 hectares, with a vegetation restoration rate of about 24%, gradually restoring slope vegetation cover. The Taichung Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency released a press release today stating that the Techi Reservoir is located in the upper watershed of the Dajia River and is subject to frequent changes in landslide areas due to typhoons, heavy rains, and earthquakes. Since 2013, they have been using satellite imagery, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), and geographic information systems for long-term monitoring to grasp the area and variation of landslides. According to the results of the first phase of monitoring this year, the total area of landslides in the jurisdiction has decreased from approximately 2,769 hectares in 2013 to approximately 1,841 hectares in 2025, indicating that restoration has been effective. However, the landslide area in the Dajia River business area has increased slightly in recent years, indicating that the high-mountain watershed continues to be affected by natural disasters and topographical conditions. Because most landslide areas are steep and difficult to access, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency uses drones for vegetation seeding to reduce construction risks and environmental disturbance. Through NDVI vegetation index analysis and field surveys, they select native plant seeds suitable for the restoration area, such as Miscanthus floridulus, Cynodon dactylon, Alnus formosana, and Rhus javanica, to enhance slope stability and natural recovery capacity. The Taichung Branch stated that mountain restoration work is still affected by typhoons, heavy rains, and slope instability, so they have adopted a strategy of batch seeding and continuous monitoring, rollingly reviewing the restoration results. The approximately 1.2 hectares of drone vegetation seeding in 2024 have achieved preliminary results, and they will continue to carry out about 0.5 hectares of vegetation restoration work in the 15th Forest Compartment of the Dajia River business area in 2026, gradually expanding the restoration results.