AN URGENT APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

To:

Deputy President of the Commission, Ms. Margot Wallström

Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Stavros Dimas


Subject: White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla and Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos face extirpation from Scotland and the United Kingdom.

Dear Madam,

Dear Sir,

The Scottish authorities, in their uncritical and precipitate drive to massively exploit Scotland’s wind energy resources, appear to be showing a complete disregard for the potentially disastrous consequences of widespread and unplanned windfarm development on wildlife. Their indifference or ignorance of the long term local economic effects, and the quality of life of residents and tourists, is also of great concern.

As a result, the rare White-tailed Eagle, and the emblematic Golden Eagle, are facing extirpation from Scotland, and consequently the United Kingdom as a whole. We wish to draw your attention to the breach of Scottish, UK, and European legislation by the responsible executive body Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) in relation to three wind farm projects: Inverliever in Argyll, Eishken on the Isle of Lewis, and the Edinbane/Ben Aketil projects on the Isle of Skye. Detailed arguments are contained in the Annexes to this letter.

In summary our arguments and conclusions are that:

• SNH is failing to abide by the law, which makes the killing of eagles and other protected birds a criminal offence - especially as there are many alternative windfarm sites in Scotland where the danger would be much less significant. In fact, the most important bird areas are being targeted by windfarm developers, with little or no opposition from SNH.

• SNH is failing its duties as a conservation organisation, repeatedly ignoring the disastrous cumulative effect that future Scottish windfarms will have on bird species which are explicitly protected by Scottish, UK and European legislation.

• SNH is permitting the use of modelling by windfarm promoters, instead of real mortality data available from existing monitoring studies. Such models are fatally flawed, and in any event the management of their parameters will produce a wide range of results, from which windfarm promoters may pick those most suitable to their interests.

It is essential that SNH conduct an urgent review of its current practice as described above, which is widely at odds with its declared policy:

"The capacity of most locales, regions or countries for wind energy generation will almost always allow for wind farms to be located in areas away from important bird areas. A key question to ask, therefore, at the very earliest stage of assessment is ‘could this wind farm be located in an area where it would have less impact on birds’?"
- SNH guidelines. (See note 1 in Reference Annex)

These three cases are particularly critical for bird life; but they represent only a fraction of what is already being developed or planned across Scotland - e.g. the very large windfarm (234 turbines) in the NATURE 2000 area "Lewis Peatlands SPA", which the Scottish Executive is apparently determined to see built in defiance of the provisions of the EU Birds & Habitat Directives. A critical analysis of the environmental statement denounces the infraction here http://www.iberica2000.org/Es/articulo.asp?Id=2030.       

We urge you to acquaint yourself with the details and to take up this matter urgently with the British government to prevent the irretrievable loss of endangered species and prime natural habitat.

We remain,

Yours sincerely,

(Signatures)

Annexes:

A.   INVERLIEVER (ARGYLL)

B.   EISHKEN (THE MUAITHEABHAL WIND FARM PROJECT), ISLE OF LEWIS

C.   EDINBANE, ISLE OF SKYE (2 NEIGHBOURING PROJECTS: EDINBANE & BEN AKETIL)