Miaoli Green Network: Linking Land Stewardship with Community-Based Conservation for Leopard Cat

Abstract

Miaoli County represents one of the most stable and critical habitats for the leopard cat population in Taiwan. However, its low-elevation hill ecosystems have long suffered from mounting development pressures—leading to habitat fragmentation, habitat degradation, roadkill, illegal hunting, and threats posed by feral dogs and cats. Building on the successful experience in Tongxiao Township, Miaoli County, the Leopard Cat Association of Taiwan (LCAT) has expanded the stewardship and conservation efforts to cover 26 parcels of National Non-public Use Marginal Land across Sanyi, Gongguan, Zaoqiao, and Houlong Townships, covering approximately 12.8 hectares. Guided by the principle of “participatory conservation”, this project seeks to extend its impact beyond core habitats into surrounding communities. Employing science-based management, we will deploy infrared camera traps across managed sites to generate more than 100,000 hours of wildlife monitoring data that will inform conservation planning. Ecological survey data collected around the adopted sites will also be shared via the iNaturalist platform. Furthermore, the project plans to host “Satoyama Living Workshops” in eight neighboring communities, engaging local residents in collaborative efforts—including roadkill reporting and mitigation, hazard prevention, reporting of illegal hunting, removal of key threats, and transitioning toward wildlife-friendly farming practices. Ultimately, this initiative aims to weave together discrete conservation nodes into a cohesive green network across Miaoli areas, transforming scientific knowledge into community-driven stewardship, mainstreaming biodiversity conservation, and creating a sustainable vision where people and leopard cats can thrive together.

Keywords: Leopard Cat Conservation, Adoption of National Non-public Use Marginal Land, Participatory Conservation, Biodiversity Mainstreaming

Methodology and Implementation Steps

The project adopts a bottom-up approach, placing local communities at the center of conservation planning and implementation. Key steps include:

1. Scientific Monitoring and Habitat Stewardship: Infrared camera traps will be deployed sequentially across 26 adopted sites to conduct continuous ecological monitoring, thereby understanding the dynamic changes of the local ecosystem and generating professional survey data to inform conservation strategy formulation. A cumulative total of 100,000 hours of monitoring footage is projected, enabling longitudinal assessment of relative abundance and activity patterns of focal species. Concurrently, iNaturalist citizen-science projects will be established for each site, publicly archiving and aggregating ecological survey data from surrounding areas to enhance transparency of environmental information. On-site habitat patrols will be conducted bi-monthly to ensure maintenance of natural habitat conditions.
2. Community Engagement and Empowerment: Comprehensive mapping of socio-ecological attributes in the vicinity of adopted lands will be undertaken. And eight target communities will be identified based on ecological priorities and stakeholder assessments. Trust-based relationships will be cultivated via structured interviews with local community leaders and stakeholders through interviews and regular dialogue. The “Satoyama Living Workshop” series will be organized to facilitate participatory dialogue among residents on locally relevant conservation issues—including wildlife roadkill, feral animal management, and wildlife-friendly farming practices—therby encouraging conservation to become an integral part of everyday community life.
3. Action-Oriented Translation and Implementation: Guided by the principle of “translating science into action,” the project bridges monitoring results with practical conservation measures. Tailored interventions will be implemented according to each community’s needs and capacity: supporting farmers’ transition to wildlife-friendly agricultural practices, or facilitating resident participation in roadkill reporting and habitat patrol initiatives, thus, translating scientific findings into tangible, community-based conservation impact.

Innovation and Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

The innovation of this project lies in adoption of National Non-public Use Marginal Land as demonstration areas to integrate scientific monitoring with “participatory conservation”. The project fosters cross-sector collaboration by integrating resources and expertise across three key sectors:

1. Government: Aligning with the National Property Administration’s National Non-public Use Marginal Land for Adoption for Environmental Protection Policy and the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s National Ecological Conservation Green Network Construction Plan.
2. Academia: Providing over 100,000 hours of camera-trap monitoring data to support research on species population trends, while sharing surrounding biodiversity data publicly via iNaturalist.
3. Community: Building partnerships with local communities to promote wildlife-friendly farming practices, connecting conservation efforts with local livelihoods and contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Expected Results and Contributions

1. Eco-Social Benefits: Enhance biodiversity awareness and conservation engagement among residents of eight target communities, mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, , foster active community participation in conservation efforts, and advance the mainstreaming of biodiversity.
2. Scientific Contributions: Generate over 100,000 camera-trap hours of wildlife monitoring data and establish long-term monitoring sites to provide foundational datasets for research on lowland mountain ecosystems.
3. ESG and Nature-Positive Impact: Establish a collaborative biodiversity conservation model with TSMC that advances corporate ESG objectives by integrating habitat stewardship, scientific monitoring, and community participation—demonstrating how corporate engagement can contribute to long-term ecosystem resilience.
4. Value of Information Sharing: Creating an open ecological database via iNaturalist for public use and educational outreach.