An orchard stands inside a greenhouse at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center in Pingtung, Taiwan, July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center employees Hung Hsin-chieh, a research assistant and Cheng Ken Yu, the moss and bryophyta collection manager, walk through Qi Lin forest in Taitung, Taiwan, July 29, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Cheng Ken Yu, the moss and bryophyta collection manager at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, collects moss from a tree with her colleague Hung Hsin-chieh, a research assistant, in Qi Lin forest, Taitung, Taiwan, July 29, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Bryum, a type of bryophyta, is pictured inside a nursery at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center in Pingtung, Taiwan, July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center employees Hung Hsin-chieh, a research assistant, and Cheng Ken Yu, the moss and bryophyta collection manager, make a log of the plants they collected from Jin Shui forest earlier that day, at their campsite in Pingtung, Taiwan, September 10, 2020. "We hope that these species have a chance to return to their original habitat. Or one day, when we wish to create a (new) habitat, these species are able to live there happily," said Ken Yu. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, who works as a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, looks at his phone as he walks back to his campsite where he is staying in Jin Shui forest, Pingtung, Taiwan, September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, looks for for a type of flower called Lycoris Sprengeri, in Dongyin, Matsu, Taiwan, August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Plants sit inside a greenhouse at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center in Pingtung, Taiwan, July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, observes plants that he collected from Qi Lin forest, in his hotel room in Taitung, Taiwan, July 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, takes care of a fern that he collected from a forest, in a nursery at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center in Pingtung, Taiwan, July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Overgrown plants sit inside a greenhouse at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center in Pingtung, Taiwan, July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, climbs a tree to collect branches for a campfire in Jin Shui forest, in Pingtung, Taiwan, September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, uses a knife to cut his way through thick bushes as he searches for plants to collect from Qi Lin forest in Taitung, Taiwan, July 29, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Sheng Sian Dai, a senior collection manager at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, waters plants in a nursery where he works, in Pingtung, Taiwan, July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, and his colleagues, share a meal in the canteen of a boat as they travel back to Keelung after collecting Lycoris sprengeri in Dongyin, Matsu, Taiwan, August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant who works at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, searches for a plant in Shi Qiu Island, Taitung, Taiwan, July 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Plants stand inside a greenhouse at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center in Pingtung, Taiwan, July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, prepares to cook dinner over a campfire in Jin Shui forest where they are camping, in Pingtung, Taiwan, September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-chieh, who works as a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, looks for plants to collect in Jin Shui forest, in Pingtung, Taiwan, September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
A Bamboo Viper, a type of snake, lies on a tree in Qi Lin forest, in Taitung, Taiwan, July 29, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, prepares to carry his tools and camping equipment during a two expedition in Hapen forest, Taipei, Taiwan, August 2, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-chieh, a research assistant who works for Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, wakes up after spending the night camping in Jin Shui forest in Pingtung, Taiwan, September 11, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Cheng Ken Yu, the moss and bryophyta collection manager at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, observes moss on a rock in Jin Shui forest, in Pingtung, Taiwan, September 10, 2020. Yu said some of the plants they collect may have properties people can use, "Then we'll have these species that we can use. Or perhaps one day when a certain habitat needs this specific species, we can provide it." REUTERS/Ann Wang
Hung Hsin-Chieh, a research assistant at Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, collects Lycoris sprengeri, a type of flower, in Dongyin, Matsu, Taiwan, August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Taiwan plant hunters race to collect rare species before they are gone