Meeting Europe's renewable energy targets in harmony with - RSPB

34 MEETING EUROPE’S RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS IN HARMONY WITH NATURE
been removed through negotiation, or through
mitigation or, as a last resort, compensation.
There is potential to carry out enhancement
measures on land which is under the direct or
indirect control of the developer, and which may be
inside the project boundary. Onshore wind is
particularly suited to an “enhancement” approach,
for the following reasons:
1 Most major projects are located in either upland
or coastal locations, in the remote countryside.
These are also the areas which are most likely to
contain substantive wildlife resources. They thus
have the most potential to be the recipients of
enhancement measures because the
enhancement builds upon existing resources.
2 The physical footprint of such projects is
relatively small, compared with the size of the
project, which means that there is great potential
to carry out enhancement measures on land
which is under the direct or indirect control of
the developer, and which may well be actually
inside the “development boundary”.
Measures such as control of grazing regimes,
control of hydrology and conifer (or other exotic
tree-species) removal can improve, restore or
create upland or coastal habitats of acknowledged
biodiversity importance.
Offsite ecological enhancements are also a
possibility. Developers of many kinds of
infrastructure sometimes provide incentives to
local communities. This is sometimes in the form
of funding for amenities such as sports facilities or
school equipment. BirdLife recommends that
creating new wildlife-rich areas, or helping improve
existing ones, is an excellent way to benefit
communities. Access to green space that is rich in
wildlife has been found to be good for people’s
physical and mental wellbeing (Diaz et al., 2006;
Barton and Pretty, 2010), and provides local schools
with opportunities for educational experiences.
2.4 OFFSHORE
WIND POWER
Although more costly than their terrestrial
counterparts, offshore wind farms have a number
of advantages. Winds at sea tend to be stronger
and more consistent, and weighty turbine
components are more easily transported at sea,
permitting larger turbines to be constructed. In
addition, offshore wind farms typically encounter
less resistance from local communities. However,
the costs of installation at sea are greater than
those on land, so larger installations are usually
proposed. Some major differences with onshore
development are the greater scale and pace at
which offshore wind farms are planned in some
countries such as the UK, and the relatively poor
availability of ecological survey data and incomplete
networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
Birds, fish and marine mammals may be disturbed
or damaged by the construction of offshore wind
farms, the movement and vibrations of operating
turbines, and the activity of servicing craft. Once
established, however, offshore wind farms have
the potential to protect wildlife from other impacts,
potentially providing safe havens for spawning
fish, for example. Trawling, which is possibly the
most severe threat to the marine environment, is
prohibited or inhibited inside offshore wind farms.
Risks to birds, mammals and fish can be classified in
the same way as those for onshore wind turbines, ie,
disturbance/displacement, collision and habitat loss.
Pollution and indirect impacts associated with
construction and operations may also present risks.