Among the worst affected are waders and ducks around wind farms on estuaries and in shallow coastal waters. “We are not saying we should
stop building wind farms. Birds would suffer much more from climate change if we don’t,” says Andy Pullin of the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation at the University of Birmingham in the UK, one of the authors of the review. “But the data shows we have to be much more careful about
where we site them.” Wind farms built in deeper water further from the shore might prove better for birds, he says.
The findings could be especially significant for the UK, which has the biggest offshore wind
energy programme in the world. One of the most controversial projects would cover Shell Flat off Blackpool in north-west England with turbines,
potentially threatening the wintering grounds for the common scoter (Melanitta nigra), a sea duck on the British “red list” of endangered species. “If Britain builds as many wind farms as the government is talking about, it could use up all the offshore habitat for ducks and waders,” warns the lead author, Gavin Stewart, also at the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation.
The findings (Systematic Review 4, at CEBC will be unwelcome news for the UK government, one of
the sponsors of the review, which is heavily committed to wind power to meet the country’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), which supports wind power.
“Compared with past assaults, such as organochlorine pesticides, loss of hedgerows, illegal persecution of birds of prey and intensive agriculture, wind farms should be low down the scale of threats,” says Mark Avery, director of conservation at the RSPB. “However, if we put them in all the wrong places then that picture would be very different.”
Yet when it comes to offshore wind farms, we do not even know what the wrong places are, Avery says, because so few impact studies have been done. One worrying aspect of the review, says Stewart, is that abundance may continue to decline with time. “Most studies look at one year, but the few longer-term studies suggest that a wind farm will have a much bigger impact over its entire lifetime.” Another worry is that most of the
studies so far have looked at small wind farms. The fear, unanswered in this study, is that a small number of bigger farms may have a greater
impact on bird populations than a series of smaller ones.
Another question, say the researchers, is whether a few big turbines do less damage than a greater number of smaller ones. “Better understanding is needed of the cumulative impact of more and more wind farms,” says Avery. “We will object to any wind farms that seriously threaten important populations of birds.” The researchers are scathing about the poor quality of research into the impact of wind farms around the world.
The findings of many studies are kept secret for commercial reasons, while supposedly public information produced for planning applications comes without raw information or is of poor quality, Stewart complains. “It’s difficult even
to find out what data is out there, and when we know it’s there, it is extraordinarily difficult to get hold of.”
SOURCE: AlphaGalileo
“Birds would suffer much more from climate change if we don’t,” says Andy Pullin of the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation at the University of Birmingham in the UK, one of the authors of the review
Just exactly how will birds “suffer” – this seems a most egregious comment. Birds will, over the long term, adapt, shift, move, fly, their impact with wind farms is short and terminal.
There is NO balance to be struck.A few dead ducks against a lot of dead humans is a price most politicians will, acccept.
Climate change involves the complete destruction of habitats, desertification and changing wind patterns. This by far a greater threat to a species of bird as a whole than a few getting killed by windmills.