Thirteen environmental protection groups nationwide have issued a joint statement opposing the proposed development of Shalun Farm, saying it would destroy the habitat and breeding grounds of the endangered eastern grass owl.
Plans to build Shalun Health Park on 84 hectares at a site in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁) would encroach on almost 10 percent of Shalun Farm, while with other projects, including for a Shalun Green Energy Science City, the total area affected would be up to 25 percent of the farm’s land, which is an important habitat for the eastern grass owl, a Category I endangered species, the groups said.
On Oct. 25 last year, the Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee conducted a preliminary assessment of the health park project and ordered further review due to many committee members expressing concerns over pollution and ecological impacts.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan Wild Bird Society
Shalun Farm is usually home to 60 species of wild birds, with 130 species having been spotted there, 30 of which are protected or endangered, including the endemic Taiwanese eastern grass owl, the groups cited the Wild Bird Society of Tainan as saying.
Among Taiwan’s 13 owl species, the eastern grass owl is the only non-migratory bird and it nests on the ground, with Shalun Farm’s plentiful grassland and uncultivated farmland providing a continuous food source and breeding habitat, they said.
In the past few years, ecological compensation measures have been implemented by the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency to protect the ecosystems of endangered species and the Tainan City Government in 2020 announced plans to use payments to protect two endangered bird species, the pheasant-tailed jacana and the eastern grass owl, the groups said.
However, the proposed development of Shalun Farm would contradict those plans, destroying large areas of the species’ foraging area, habitat and breeding grounds, they said.
The development of the science city project should stay in line with its original scope, surrounding the Tainan High-Speed Rail Station, or consider other areas for expansion within Tainan, they said.
As the state-run entity that controls the largest slice of Taiwan’s agricultural industry, Taiwan Sugar Corp should consider its social responsibility, making farmland ecological conservation one of its most important environmental, social and governance goals, they added.
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