Beyond stereotypes – ecological and landscape solutions for offshore wind farms Dr Maggie Hill Countryside Council for Wales

Can we agree? There is much still to be discovered about the environmental effects of offshore wind farms Photo courtesy of VESTAS Danish Wind Technology

EWEA Vice-President Jos Beurskens, 2001 “ We need to avoid the situation in the Netherlands where one faction wants to save nature and the other to introduce renewables. If you don’t bring them together it will be disastrous.”

Potential environmental effects of offshore windfarms SeabedBirdsSeascape and coastal character Coastal processes Fish and fisheries Visual Beach zone coastal habitats Marine mammals Historic landscape Water qualityCollisions Exclusions Amenity and water use

Uncertainties – the main ones! Birds – displacement, barrier effect collisions Fish – electromagnetic effects; change in fishing effort Marine mammals – underwater noise Seascape – how evaluate, layout? Cumulative assessments – how?

C ommon Scoter Melanitta nigra

Liverpool Bay common scoter aerial survey - Nov 2000

Sharks, skates and rays Will windfarm cables affect behaviour or populations? Many species depleted in UK waters Use inshore sandbanks for feeding, breeding, nursery areas Lab tests show avoidance and attraction Shielding and burial of cables

Seascapes

Stages of assessment Delineate seascape unit Visual analysis Describe - marine, coastline, hinterland Identify seascape character Evaluate – quality, value, capacity

Dynamism and variability Scale and distance Different sea to land/land to sea Visual movement Historic and cultural aspects Functions and uses

Visibility = number of 1 km points visible from every 50 m pixel ONLY derived from points on land Sample points Visibility of Sea from Land

Existing offshore activities located in Liverpool Bay showing site of proposed wind farms

©BWEA