Asia-Pacific Sustainability Action Awards-Sustainability Action Awards SDG13:Gold
Central Region Branch Office, Highway Bureau, MOTC
Environmental Steward: Integrating Roads into Nature
The Highway Bureau's Miaoli Branch has designated the Dahu–Zhuolan section of Provincial Highway 3 as an environmental sustainability demonstration area. Evolving from the "Smart and Friendly Roads — Leopard Cat Conservation" project, it expanded in 2020 into the "Environmental Co-Prosperity Alliance." This cross-sector partnership unites 13 entities from industry, government, academia, and civil society, successfully transforming traditional road engineering into holistic environmental co-governance. On the engineering front, "subtractive aesthetics" are applied by undergrounding power lines to restore the skyline, while Low Impact Development (LID) and recycled materials boost climate resilience and reduce carbon. To support the Ecological Green Network, native plants are cultivated into "wild gardens," paired with local eco-education. Fulfilling SDGs 13, 15, and 17, the project safely integrates infrastructure into nature, achieving harmonious human-ecological coexistence.