Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Action
Decision
Reason for the decision
Turbine shutdowns
Continue, but
modify
OBPs had not been observed on the wind farm
sites, but the action was retained due to the
critically endangered status of the species
Vegetation
management
Continue
Logical and useful to continue to protect the
remnant vegetation
General weed
management
Continue
Logical and useful protocol to manage weeds on
site
Eagle nest
protection and offset
package
Cease
The nest protection program had been successfully
completed. The program, including the process used
to identify nests to be protected was highly
successful (and resulted in an Environmental
Stewardship Award from the Tasmanian EPA in
2010). The remainder of the offset actions were close
to completion and would be completed shortly.
Benefi ts of the offset program diffi cult to quantify
Eagle and OBP
Trusts
Cease
The eagle Trust was superseded by the “Wedge-
tailed eagle and White-bellied Sea-eagle Nesting
Habitat Management Plan 2007”
The OBP Trust was found to not be adding any
value and once all funds were expended, it was
agreed that it should be wound up
It was agreed that the establishment of Trusts to
administer offset funds added an unnecessary layer
of bureaucracy, which provided little advantage
Eagle genetics study
New study
a
Targeted studies designed to improve
understanding of collision victims
Eagle camera study.
Targeted eagle
behavioural studies
New study
b
Targeted studies designed to understand eagle
collision risk and any seasonal changes in
behaviour. More rigorous survey design and used
remote sensing to overcome some of the
disadvantages of using human observers
Bat study
New study
Targeted study to investigate the signifi cance of
bat fatalities at these sites
Voluntary project -
WBSE nest
platform
Cease, but continue
ad hoc monitoring
The WBSE nesting platform had not been used by
WBSE and therefore was not a successful strategy.
The problematic WBSE nest has subsequently
fallen from the tree after a limb collapsed in 2009,
and the birds are nesting at a new location
Cease All the trials of deterrent systems found that there
was, at best, no reaction from eagles to any of the
alarms, at worst a possible attractive effect was
observed. Given the lack of response by eagles to
these trials, full trials were not conducted and it
was concluded that a “detect and deter system” did
not appear to currently be a viable option for
deterring eagles at these wind farms
c
Sector management involved the automated pausing of specifi c turbines during specifi c wind
speed and directions. Each turbine at these wind farms monitors wind speed and direction, hence
it is possible to program into the operating system pauses of the turbines during specifi c wind
conditions. The wind conditions used to trigger a pause were derived from some initial eagle
observational studies that suggested that eagles fl ew closer to or within the swept area during spe-
cifi c certain wind conditions
Voluntary project -
Noise deterrent trial
