The NTU Highland Experimental Farm has received the National Environmental Education Award—Excellence Award for an Organization from the Environmental Protection Administration. This is the first year these awards have been presented.

In its effort to promote environmental education, the EPA, in accordance with the Environmental Education Act, announced the National Environmental Education Award Regulations to establish the National Environmental Education Awards program in January 2012. Awards are given in six categories: private enterprise, school, organization, group, community, and individual. By offering awards in a number of categories, the EPA hopes to extend the breadth and depth of the participants and attract more private enterprises and government agencies to work cooperatively to promote environmental education.

The award regulations encourage local government participation in environmental education work by placing local governments in charge of the first evaluation stage of the awards. Local governments also present awards to the winners of the first stage. The local governments then send the names and information of the first-place winners in each category in the first stage to the EPA for further evaluation in the second stage and final stage.

The NTU Highland Experimental Farm began holding nature and ecology camps in 1998 to promote teaching and research, environmental education, and environmentally friendly farming practices. The farm’s personnel teamed up and worked together to register for participation in the awards in June 2012. In the first evaluation stage, Nantou County awarded the farm the first-place award for an organization. The farm was then listed among the top-five organizations in the country in the second evaluation stage in April of this year. When the results of the final evaluation stage were announced in June, the NTU Highland Experimental Farm was presented with the National Environmental Education Award—Excellence Award for an Organization.

The farm was given the award because of its development of high-quality environmental education courses, publication of ecology and nature books, formulation of courses integrating sustainable agriculture, forest conservation, and indigenous culture, as well as its continuous improvement of the quality of courses and financial soundness. The farm’s enthusiastic and professional environmental education personnel regularly organize activities, such as growth education training and in-the-mountains lectures to continue advancing their environmental education knowledge and skills as well as the environmental awareness and values of the farm’s personnel.

In August 2012, the NTU Highland Experimental Farm was certified by the EPA as an environmental education facility. Since then, nine of the farm’s environmental education personnel received certification from the EPA. Winning the National Environmental Education Award stands as the ultimate affirmation of the farm personnel’s many years of hard work in the promotion of environmental education. The farm will continue to uphold its environmental principles as it promotes and implements environmental education.