Truemors
According to a new study released today, wind farms are not a threat to birds and do not drive them from the surrounding areas, which could be good news for wind farms and renewable energy sources.
It has previously been reported that wind farms can harm birds as they can get caught in the turbines.
But this study says that only pheasants were affected, out of the 23 species studied.
The findings published in the Journal of Applied Ecology could help government and business efforts to boost the number of wind farms as a way to increase production of renewable energy.
"This is the first evidence suggesting that the present and future location of large numbers of wind turbines on European farmland is unlikely to have detrimental effects on farmland birds," Mark Whittingham, whose team from Newcastle University carried out the research, said in a statement.
"This should be welcome news for nature conservationists, wind energy companies and policy makers."
The survey studied the impact of two wind farms on about 3,000 birds in the area, including five species of conservation concern -- the yellowhammer, the Eurasian tree sparrow, the corn bunting, the Eurasian skylark and the common reed bunting.
The researchers recorded the density of birds at different distances from the turbines and found that aside from the pheasant, the structures posed no problems.
The new findings are important because the European Union is committed to generating 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020 and is also seeking to boost biodiversity.
However, birds could still collide with the turbines, which is a major worry for conservationists.
Comments (0)