Work package 3b: Linnusto's main migration route update report
Background
The third phase regional plan work of Northern Ostrobothnia examined the effects of wind power areas planned and implemented in the Northern Ostrobothnia region on the migratory bird population, and a report was prepared to support the assessment work (Impacts of wind power construction on the migratory bird population in Northern Ostrobothnia, Sito Oy 2016). The study assessed the combined effects of wind power construction planned for Northern Ostrobothnia and the wider Gulf of Bothnia on the migratory bird population.
The 2016 Bird Survey carried out a synergistic impact assessment for all relevant bird species. For a few species, the impacts were also examined cross-regionally in order to get a picture of the combined effects of wind power construction located in different regions on the most critical species for these impacts. The report made recommendations for the preparation of the 3rd phase regional land use plan to take account of the migratory bird population.
In order to coordinate the main coastal migration route and wind power construction, the following principles have been observed in the 3rd phase regional plan:
- No increase in the total amount of wind power construction along the main migration route along the Bothnian Bay
- Ensuring sufficiently wide, unobstructed migration corridors or escape possibilities.
In the third phase-region plan, general planning regulations were also issued for the construction of wind turbines concerning the migratory bird:
- In the coastal area of the Bothnian Bay, wind power construction must primarily be located in the areas of wind turbines designated in the regional plan. On a case-by-case basis, the location of wind turbines in other areas may also be considered, provided that it does not significantly increase the adverse combined effects of wind power construction on housing, landscape, birds or other environments.
- As a rule, wind turbines must be located outside areas that are important for the bird population. On a case-by-case basis, wind power construction can also be considered in these areas, if wind power construction does not weaken the bird population values of the areas.
Update report
The TUULI project updates the migratory bird survey drawn up in 2016. Since the third phase-region plan migration bird survey (2016), there has been a wealth of additional experience on the actual effects of wind turbines on the migratory bird population.
Comprehensive monitoring data on already built wind farms have provided more information on the actual impact of collisions. The migration monitoring data of new wind power EIA projects have also supplemented the knowledge of the main migration route of birds. According to monitoring data, migratory birds do better than expected to avoid situations modelled in the EIA procedures of previous projects.
However, already built wind turbines have been a barrier effect, in which case the move has been directed by sideways or through gaps in the turbine areas. In Ii, the so-called bottleneck area, the migratory route of the bird population has thus already been divided and located further east than the zone presented in the 2016 report.
Advanced technology enables wind power production in a weaker wind area, and project development is heading inland. Sustainable wind power construction requires a broader impact assessment of the combined effects on the migratory bird to the east of the main migration route outlined in the previous study.
