Application form
Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 29 August 2007. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.
1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.
Name | Aedán Smith |
Job title | Senior Conservation Planner |
Organisation | RSPB Scotland |
Address | RSPB Scotland Headquarters, Dunedin House, 25 Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh, EH4 3TP |
Telephone | 0131 311 6500 |
Fax | 0131 311 6569 |
Email | aedán.smith@rspb.org.uk |
2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.
1 Scottish Natural Heritage | 2 |
3 | 4 |
5 | 6 |
3 Tick one nomination category
Title of entry | Bird Sensitivity Map to provide locational guidance for onshore wind farms in Scotland |
Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude with a key reason as to why you think this work merits an Award. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.
The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:
You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.
Description of project
This project involved development of a bird sensitivity map to aid location of onshore wind farms in Scotland. The map is based on distributional data for a suite of sensitive bird species. Species included on the map are either listed on Annex I of the EU Birds Directive, and/or are species of conservation concern with known or suspected susceptibility to the effects of wind turbines on birds, notably collision mortality and disturbance displacement. The map has been produced by RSPB Scotland in an effort to help windfarm developers avoid the most important areas for birds and to help local authorities in planning for renewable energy developments. It is hoped the map will help minimise conflict between wind farms and birds of high conservation concern by helping developers and decision makers avoid the most sensitive sites. The map identifies those areas where wind farms would pose a high to medium risk for important bird populations. |
Describe the background to the project
Climate change represents the biggest long-term threat to birds and other wildlife, and the RSPB views wind power as an important part of the solution. However, wind farms can have deleterious effects on birds and we must ensure that our most important wildlife sites are not put at risk by wind energy developments. There has been a huge increase in the number of wind farm proposals in Scotland. Many of the proposed sites are in the uplands, which also support important populations of birds of conservation concern. This leads to potential conflict. Some species are concentrated in designated sites but most are more widely dispersed. In addition, not all species are equally affected by wind farms. RSPB Scotland was keen to produce a tool that would pull together relevant bird data to help reduce potential for conflict and guide decision making in the early stages of the planning process. |
What are the aims and objectives of the project?
The project aimed to assist in safeguarding bird species of conservation concern, many of which are protected under European law and are also an important tourism asset to Scotland. The project also aimed to help facilitate wind farm development in appropriate locations across Scotland without wasting resources in preparing, assessing and determining schemes that could become controversial and time consuming and are may ultimately be rejected because of their potential to impact on important bird populations. |
Over what timescale has the project been developed?
The project was developed over a period of 12 months during 2005 and 2006. |
Explain the process and action taken
A bird sensitivity map was produced based on distributional data for a suite of sensitive bird species. Species included are either listed on Annex I of the EU Birds Directive, and/or are species of conservation concern with known or suspected susceptibility to the effects of wind turbines, notably collision mortality and disturbance displacement. The map was produced at a 1km square resolution, with each 1km square in Scotland being assigned one of three sensitivity ratings. These sensitivity ratings were assigned following reviews of literature and best available information from a wide range of sources for each species on foraging ranges, collision risk, disturbance distances and other relevant features of behavioural and population ecology, to develop 'sensitivity criteria' to determine appropriate buffering distances. |
Explain the role of the key partners
This was an RSPB led project, jointly funded by Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB. |
What results were achieved?
Planning authorities have been made aware of the availability of the map and the underlying GIS layer. Highland Council has already used the map in the production of its renewable energy strategy, and 13 other councils have requested it. It is anticipated that use of the map will increase as planning authorities update development plans to reflect the requirements of SPP6. |
In summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?
This project pulled together an extensive amount of data from a wide variety of sources to produce a simple tool that can be used to facilitate wind farm development in appropriate locations. The map will help to deliver Scottish Executive targets for renewable energy production, and contribute to minimising the effects of climate change, without adversely impacting on Scotland's valued but sensitive areas for birds. The map will help planning authorities in preparing development plans and will be particularly useful in helping planning authorities set out the spatial framework required by SPP7. The project pre-empted the need for readily available spatial data on bird sensitivities to feed into the preparation of spatial frameworks for the consideration of windfarm proposals. |
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