Environmental impact assessment and surveillance on wind farms

Spain has become one of the world's biggest producers of wind power. On the other hand, according to the European legislation, several projects, including wind farms, must be evaluated through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Once approved, wind farms must be surveyed to ensure the correct implementation of those measures recommended by the Environmental Impact Report. Bird and bat mortality due to collision with wind turbines is one of those aspects to be controlled at wind farms. However, this collision risk is difficult to assess both during the elaboration of the Environmental Impact Report and once the wind farm is working. Accordingly, clear instructions on this process are needed.

This talk will be about the current lacks of Environmental Impact Assessment, providing some instructions to solve them. Additionally, it will be provided information of bird and bad mortality at wind farms, analysing the potential effects and proposing mitigation measures. The talk will be based on a wide professional experience (i.e. > 8 years) in the sector of wind farm surveillance.

Invited speaker: Álvaro Camiña Cardenal

He received his BSc. in Biology from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. He is currently working as environmental consultant for several wind farm promoters. He also works for several regional governments (e.g. Gobierno de La Rioja, Generalitat Valenciana, Junta de Andalucía) where had developed studies on raptors and big mammals. He is member of the most important international organisations on raptor conservation such as the Vulture Conservation Foundation/VCF in Europe, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) in South Africa and the Raptor Research Foundation in USA.