Pingtung Expands 'Ecological Salary' to Protect Grass Owls, Including Changzhi and Wandan

(CNA Reporter Huang Yu-ching, Pingtung County, 25th) The Pingtung County Government is promoting the Grass Owl Ecological Service Payment policy, encouraging friendly farming through incentive mechanisms to turn farmland into habitats for the endangered Grass Owl. As of last year, the payment area reached 95.75 hectares, and the plan is to expand into Changzhi and Wandan Townships this year.

Cheng Yung-yu, Director of the Agriculture Department of Pingtung County, explained that the items for rewards include 'Farm-friendly', 'Perch Monitoring', and 'Autonomous Patrol'. Currently, the plan covers Pingtung City, Gaoshu, Ligang, Yanpu, and Jiuru, with Changzhi and Wandan being added in 2026. For eligible farmland, up to NT$33,000 per hectare can be applied for; community groups can form patrol teams with a monthly subsidy of up to NT$5,000.

According to a press release from the Agriculture Department, as long as farmers do not use rat poison, toxic bait, non-friendly nets, or herbicides, and set up raptor perches in their fields, they can apply for the maximum NT$33,000 ecological payment, practicing 'earning an ecological salary while farming.'

The department pointed out that by 2025, the payment area reached 95.75 hectares, roughly the size of nine Taipei Domes, growing nearly twofold since the start. Among 96 raptor perches, about 70% recorded raptors, and 20 locations successfully recorded Grass Owl activities, showing that friendly farmland provides stable food and shelter. The government aims to further deepen the policy to create a sustainable agricultural environment that balances production, ecology, and life.