Save the leopard cat's home! Miaoli reportedly set to skip ecological review, hold closed-door meeting to "fix" solar development; Leopard Cat Association: no backroom deals

Is the leopard cat's home really about to be destroyed by a vast solar farm? Solar developers and the government are about to hold closed-door talks, and the situation is growing more critical by the day! In Miaoli County, more than 200 farmland solar projects have been submitted for review, most of them located on shallow-mountain forest slopes. After a few of these sites were developed earlier, the sight of trees cut down on the slopes, like a "ghost shave," caused an uproar, and even more worrying is the threat to the habitat of the protected leopard cat.

In response, the Miaoli County Government originally established a "three-stage review" system, inviting ecological experts to vet solar applications so as to avoid ecologically sensitive locations. But now it is reported that solar developers are lobbying the central and local governments to hold a "closed-door meeting" in the county magistrate's office next Thursday, December 31, to bypass the review mechanism. Conservation groups strongly suspect this is a "backroom deal" by developers trying to push farmland solar projects through, and if that is not the case, the public should be allowed to participate and speak out openly.

Conservationists worry that if the government really skips the ecological review mechanism, it could lead to all 200 hectares of forest being cut down, and the leopard cats that lose their homes will be left to wander, greatly increasing the risk of being killed on the roads.