Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/12
By: Yeh Tzu-kang and William Yen

CNA file photo

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) A government plan to install solar panels near a wetlands will not affect the natural habitats of endangered winter migratory birds, the Chiayi County government said Sunday in response to a report saying the plan was driving the birds away.

Li Chien-lin (李建霖), deputy head of the Chiayi County Agriculture Department, told CNA that the solar panels will not to be installed on the legally defined grounds of the Budai Salt Pan Wetlands because the area and surrounding salt fields are important habitats for the endangered black-faced spoonbill.

After a meeting with the Ministry of the Interior and experts, it was decided that the installations will be limited to four plots of land, which total 102 hectares, and will not be expanded to preserve the birds’ natural habitat, Li said.

The statement came after the United Daily News (UDN) reported black-faced spoonbills are disappearing from the county’s Budai wetlands because of the digging and preparation for the installation of the solar panels in the area.    [FULL  STORY]