Wind farms whacking wildlife in South Africa By Daniel Puchert

[Nat Quinn]

A recent report on the bird fatalities caused by wind farms shows that the alternative energy source significantly impacts birdlife, with many plants failing to mitigate this, the Sunday Times reports.

The report, conducted by BirdLife South Africa across 33 of the 35 wind farms nationwide over eight years ending in 2023, found 2,444 dead birds from over 200 species.

Of these dead birds, ten per cent were those of species of conservation.

BirdLife points out that South Africa currently has 1,421 turbines generating about 3,490MW of capacity, and it plans to increase this to 17,700MW by 2030.

By law, all wind farms must have environmental management programmes (EMPs), which include monitoring bird deaths caused by turbines.

This data must be reported to the Department of Fisheries, Forestries, and the Environment (DFFE) as well as BirdLife.

However, the report noted that many wind farms fail to comply — with two not providing any data.

Speaking to the Times, Samantha Ralston-Paton, BirdLife’s birds and renewable energy project manager, said that many wind farms are doing their best to abide by the necessary legislation.

While on the other hand, many “are getting away with all sorts of things,” she said.

BirdLife specifically called out wind farms in the Eastern Cape as the most non-compliant with laws surrounding biodiversity impact reporting.

VulPro, an NGO focused on the conservation of vultures, echoes this view. One of its researchers, Kate Webster, accuses some farms of covering up bird deaths caused by wind turbines.

Webster told the Times that she was informed about farm workers being rewarded for removing carcasses in the Cookhouse area to decrease the number found.

This is a prime foraging area for Cape vultures, an endangered species, according to Webster, who described the area as a “war zone,” saying that many turbines should be permanently shut down.

Given the many instances of wind farms failing to adequately report on their biodiversity impact, the BirdLife report suggests that the DFFE should frequently audit EMPs.

Those found not to be mitigating their impact on biodiversity should be fined or prosecuted, BirdLife says.

However, the DFFE said it takes the noncompliance highlighted by the report seriously, supporting enforcement actions against violators, the department’s spokesperson Peter Mbelengwa told the Times.

Despite this, groups such as BirdLife believe that the DFFE must take a much stronger stand against those not complying with regulations.

Ralston-Paton argues that wind farms are ultimately responsible, adding that numerous solutions can be implemented to mitigate these issues.

One solution currently implemented by Excelsior Wind Farm near Swellendam is employing bird spotters as an early warning system to prevent bird casualties.

These spotters form part of a bird protection programme called shutdown on demand and assess birds’ flight patterns.

If they anticipate one heading towards a turbine, they radio the control centre to stop the blades, taking just under a minute to halt the blades.

The team’s head, Clarissa Mars, says the movement of some birds, like the Cape vulture, is easy to predict.

However, she noted that the smaller, faster black harrier is far more challenging.

“With the black harrier, the flight patterns always change, especially when it comes to breeding season,” she said.

Their hunting techniques also present a danger. Once it has captured prey on the ground, it soars upwards as quickly as it can.

Mars added that they don’t care about their surroundings while doing this, putting them at risk of being hit by turbine blades.

Excelsior Wind Farm reached commercial operation in December 2020. Since then, the corpses of two black harriers killed by turbines have been found.

 

SOURCE:Wind farms whacking wildlife in South Africa – MyBroadband

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