Of wind energy and seabirds

The Boatman. Estaca de Bares, reference point, santasantórum and place of pilgrimage for ornithologists to observe Seabirds. After a few years, the Congress of the Seabirds Working Group (GRAM). Antonio Sandoval, sursunchord of seabirds and Lord of Estaca de Bares, put it best: “we are lighting the fire again to bring the tribe together”. The fire that summons us to talk about the sea and birds. There we went.

We are greeted by two classmates, souls of conservationism in Galicia: Xurxo Piñeiro, first-level field technician, figure of the Iberian bird, firm Edding in all the bird observatories and more sought after than a folkloric one, he has worked at the Doñana Biological Station (EBD) and the Hunting Resources Institute (IREC) with an excellent record; and Gustavo Ferreiro, Galaic gentleman, conservationist Guerrilla fighter, Pater families of the local SEO Pontevedra group, always involved in bird conservation projects, is in all of them, be it the patinegro plover (Charadrius Alexandrinus) on the beaches of O Grove and Sanxenxo or the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) in the Cathedral of Santiago. Xurxo and Gustavo co-organized the GTAM conference. These two Compañeiros they are our powers in Galicia, and beyond as well. They introduced us to the ornithological parrot Galician and they introduced us to the local saints of the Galician capes.

For three days (and also nights) we dealt with the problem of the conservation of seabirds. And wind energy Offshore it can already be seen from the observatories. It worries. There are concerns about incurring the same planning errors as when deploying onshore wind energy. It is worrying that the magnitude of the impact is critical for an already highly threatened group of birds: accidental capture is the main threat to seabirds. In addition, overfishing also affects food availability. Fishing is to seabirds what agriculture is to agrosteppe birds. In fact, marine birds are the second most threatened group of birds; they follow agrosteppes closely. The parallels: fishing and wind energy, agriculture and solar energy. Again, introducing a threat factor in an already hostile environmental context. They tell us that administrations have not consulted experts in seabirds, who accumulate data and scientific knowledge, to plan the implementation of wind power Offshore. Restless.

Seabirds are highly sensitive to unnatural mortality due to their high longevity and low fecundity (K strategy). The non-residual and compensated impact of a wind farm would be critical for the viability of seabird populations, already threatened by fishing (accidental capture and overexploitation). The habituation of birds to a wind farm would pose a high risk of collision with the wind turbine; but aversion to the wind farm is a loss of habitat and a barrier effect. Migratory corridors are areas of high sensitivity for seabirds. Therefore, strategic environmental assessment: breeding colonies, feeding areas and migratory corridors as exclusion zones. And then environmental impact studies to evaluate the impact of the project, adapt it as residual and compensate for it. Questions also arise about environmental monitoring: how to estimate mortality due to the collision with wind turbines at sea? Wouldn't preventive shutdown due to weather conditions (for example, fog), and also at night, compromise the profitability of the wind farm? In addition, impact studies and also environmental monitoring at sea are complex and expensive.

Ideas MedioAmbiental attends scientific and technical forums to acquire knowledge, respond to new environmental impact scenarios and make the deployment of renewable energy compatible with the conservation of biodiversity.

Iván Salgado, Biodiversity