Delegates at the
Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on the Conservation of
Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), in Bergen, Norway
are poised to adopt new guidelines on how to avoid birds being killed by power
line collisions and electrocutions.
The Guidelines on
How to Avoid or Mitigate the Impact of Electricity Power Grids on Migratory
Birds in the African-Eurasian Region are a set of concrete recommendations for
governments, power companies and conservation organizations. They are based on
a major study reviewing the impacts of electricity power grids on birds in the
African-Eurasian region, and how best to minimize these.
The review shows
that in the African-Eurasian region alone, hundreds of thousands of birds die
annually from electrocution, and tens of millions of birds from collision with
power lines. For some large, slow reproducing bird species which migrate across
this region, the death toll is causing population declines, and may lead to
local or regional extinctions.
“Protecting birds
from existing or planned power lines is a global issue and it’s vital that best
practice, innovations and experience are shared”, said Leon Bennun, Birdlife
International’s Director of Science. “Migratory birds ignore national
boundaries, so their future depends on international action to minimize the
risks caused by electricity networks that cross flyways. With major expansion
of electricity infrastructure ongoing across the world, the adoption of these
guidelines by CMS is very timely.”
Birdlife has a
long track record in this area, with earlier guidelines compiled or supported
by NABU (Birdlife Partner in Germany).
Birdlife Partner organizations and were major contributors to the review and
guidelines providing research, recommendations and practical mitigation measures.
.
For example, in South Africa,
11-15% of Ludwig’s Bustards Neotis ludwigii die annually in collisions with the
growing number of power lines. Research by Birdlife South Africa’s Executive
Director Mark Anderson during the early 2000s showed that every kilometer of
power line in the eastern Karoo kills one
Ludwig’s Bustard per year. Because of the rapid decline in population caused by
these collisions, Ludwig’s Bustard was uplisted from Least Concern to
Endangered in 2010.
Information
provided to the review by Birdlife Finland, based on analysis of
Finnish Ringing Centre data, revealed that 46% of all ringed birds that died of
electrocution between 1980 and 2003 were Eagle Owls Bubo bubo, 22% Ural Owls Strix
uralensis, and 11% Tawny Owls Strix aluco.
The review
describes an EU-LIFE project launched by BSPB (Birdlife Bulgaria) in 2010 to mitigate
collisions and electrocution of birds in the Bourgas wetlands area, which
includes a number of Important Bird Areas. Project activities include
identification of dangerous power lines within one kilometer of the lakes, and
insulation of dangerous poles.
Meanwhile, Birdlife
data, and tools developed by Birdlife, are being used to prepare national
“conflict hotspot maps” by combining information on the national power line
network, Important Bird Areas (IBAs), and data on the locations of critical
sites for collision-susceptible species derived from the Critical Site Network
(CSN) Tool, which was developed by Birdlife and Wetlands International as part
of the UNEP-funded Wings Over Wetlands Project.