(Exclusive) Taiwan Sugar to cut trees for solar power again! 160 hectares of afforestation land in Hualien may be destroyed, and it infringes on indigenous tribal traditional territories

The Council of Agriculture has repeatedly ordered a ban on solar power on farmland, yet Taiwan Sugar Corporation is doing the opposite, continuing to plan to release farmland. "Upstream and Downstream" recently revealed that Taiwan Sugar wants to develop 25 hectares of farmland in Gukeng Township, Yunlin, to build a solar power plant. Following the trail, it was found that the Gukeng case is only the tip of the iceberg. In the same batch, Taiwan Sugar resolved to release land for solar power development, four plots in total, covering a vast 230 hectares. The largest plot is located in Fenglin Township, Hualien, with a land area of 160 hectares, larger than 6 Daan Forest Parks.

On the other hand, in February last year (2020), a controversy over "cutting trees for solar power" on afforestation land occurred in Wanluan, Pingtung. In July, the Council of Agriculture announced that it would take two months to inventory the nationwide afforestation results and determine the principles for the development and use of afforestation land. However, more than half a year has passed since that inventory work, and the results have still not been announced. The Council of Agriculture previously took a firm stance and strictly controlled solar power on farmland, but now, faced with Taiwan Sugar's continued planning to release farmland, its attitude is ambiguous and vague.

More notably, this case involves the traditional territories of indigenous tribes. Taiwan Sugar, without the tribes' knowledge, has already resolved to release the land for solar power development, which may violate the prior principle of "Free, Prior and Informed Consent" (FPIC). Tribal workers are even more worried that if the Zhihben solar power case approach is followed, and the developer is commissioned to obtain tribal "consent" only after the tender is awarded, it may cause division and conflict within the tribes.

Taiwan Sugar: Releasing farmland in coordination with national energy policy

After exposing the Gukeng solar power case, "Upstream and Downstream" reporters followed the trail and found that on July 31 last year, the board of directors of Taiwan Sugar Corporation resolved to release four plots of farmland for solar power development, including Gu