Houli farmers protest in front of the EPA in 2006.The official announcement was made yesterday that the phase-one Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Taiwan’s Central Science Park development on Ci-sing Farm, Houli, which was approved by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in 2006 under circumstances which caused outrage among EIA Review Committee members, has been cancelled by the Administrative Court. This is the result of a lawsuit brought by six farmers from in and around Houli Township, Taichung County, who are represented by a group of lawyers including Lawyer Lin San-Chia and Lawyer of Record Chen Bo-jhou of Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.
Besides being a success for farmers in and downstream of Houli, today’s announcement is also good news for Taiwan’s Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, whose habitat includes the estuaries of Dachia River and Daan River. According to the conclusion of the Second International Workshop on Conservation and Research Needs of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Population of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins, held in Chuanghua City in September 2007, two of the five main threats to this small population of dolphins are pollution and reduction of freshwater flow into their habitat.
Continue reading the story on the Wild at Heart website.
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