Miaoli 7.6-hectare solar development may cut trees and sever the leopard cat ecological corridor
Solar development projects are once again encroaching on leopard cat habitat, and this time the area is even larger! Conservation groups recently revealed the shocking sight of trees being cut on Miaoli hillsides for solar power, and now a shallow-mountain area as large as 7.6 hectares in Zhusen Village, Tongluo Township, has caught the eye of a solar developer that has applied for development. The Taiwan Leopard Cat Conservation Association is worried that the location of this project will sever the leopard cat ecological corridor, shrink leopard cat habitat, and may cause more roadkill. The association has launched a petition starting today and is demanding that the county government hire ecological experts for strict review.
Regarding this case, the Miaoli County Government acknowledges that it has so far conducted only one field survey, and that after incorporating opinions from the Forestry Bureau and the Agriculture Department, it will ask the developer to include them in the development plan and then conduct a strict review.
Solar development under 2 hectares requires ecological review, but 7.6 hectares does not?
Although the Council of Agriculture stipulates that solar development projects applied for after August 1 last year must obtain central approval for land-use change if they involve changing agricultural land of more than 2 hectares, this solar development project in Zhusen Village, Tongluo Township, Miaoli County, was submitted as early as May 26 last year. Therefore, even though it covers as much as 7.6 hectares, it can still be reviewed directly by the local government on its own.
Miaoli pioneered the nation's only "three-stage review system," bringing in ecological experts to assess the environmental impact after solar project development. Currently, more than 200 projects of under 2 hectares are undergoing review. However, the larger Tongluo solar project does not have to undergo the above three-stage review, and instead follows the non-urban land development review system. But this system has no mechanism for handling ecological and environmental issues, nor any committee members with ecological expertise. If it passes, how great an impact it will have on leopard cats is worrying.
The solar project site will sever the leopard cat ecological corridor and may cause more roadkill
The Taiwan Leopard Cat Conservation Association points out that the site of the Zhusen Village case happens to be located on an important corridor for the leopard cat population's ecology, and there is a natural stream gully in the project site that is an important passage for leopard cats crossing between eastern and western habitats. Once solar panels are installed, in addition to shrinking the area of leopard cat activity and making the habitat more fragmented, it will also force leopard cats to cross Provincial Highway 13 directly, causing more roadkill.
Chen Meiting, chairwoman of the Leopard Cat Association and known as "Leopard Cat Mom," points out directly that this natural stream gully lies between Miaoli City and Tongluo Township and was originally a forest area with more scattered residents and also more leopard cats. In addition, there are already many roads or development barriers around the project site. If this stream gully is blocked as well, besides increasing the tragedy of roadkill, it will also affect the exchange between individual leopard cats and populations (genes), which is extremely unfavorable for leopard cat conservation.
