Opinion

We need wind farms and we need eagles. And we need a planning system that accommodates both

We cannot afford to be pro-species conservation only when it suits other purposes

Corkermore wind farm in Dunkineely, Co Donegal: recent plans for further sites have led to planning battles. Photograph: David Sleator
Corkermore wind farm in Dunkineely, Co Donegal: recent plans for further sites have led to planning battles. Photograph: David Sleator
Sadhbh O'Neill
Tue Aug 06 2024 - 06:00

Even for birders, eagles occupy a special place in our relationship to nature. Inclined as we are to both admire and persecute apex predators, these charismatic raptors are the icons for nature restoration and conservation in Ireland. With wingspans of more than 2m and top flying speeds of 70km per hour, the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) were once widespread across Ireland but were extirpated by the early 20th century, largely due to habitat change alongside extensive persecution including poisoning, shooting, trapping and egg collecting.

The successful reintroduction of golden and white-tailed eagles over the past 20 years can be attributed to the vision and commitment of the Golden Eagle Trust and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and building trust with the farming community. It is also due to a heightened environmental awareness and a growing understanding that these majestic raptors pose little or no risk to livestock (they prefer to eat fish, carrion and hares). In fact, the reintroduction of eagles has arguably spawned a new appreciation for Ireland’s native wildlife, evidenced by the negative public reaction to incidents of poisoning or shooting. And there’s an economic benefit too: eagle-watching is now so popular on the tiny Scottish island of Mull (population 2,800) that it reportedly generates an economic benefit of £5-8 million a year.

However, successful though the reintroductions of eagles, osprey and the red kite have been, habitat restoration still faces significant challenges as wild areas of Ireland are encroached upon for housing development, roads, monoculture forestry or wind farms. Sometimes, the focus on a single protected species sets up an artificial conflict between environmental protection and economic development, when landscape-scale habitat restoration and ecologically sensitive land uses and energy generation practices are really what is needed across the board.

In reality, natural habitats should be regarded as a complex mosaic in which every species has an important role to play. As apex predators, eagles have a unique role in the landscape, for example by ridding it of carrion that might otherwise spread disease. But they shouldn’t have to earn their right to exist by being useful or economically productive.

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But this is a hard principle to implement. Some of the fiercest battles between nature conservation, economic development and even climate action take place over onshore wind farm developments. Eagles do not follow maps, and even with the careful siting of reintroductions, a number of birds have been killed due to collisions with turbines. Research suggests that older eagles avoid turbines but nest disturbance remains a risk as eagles will typically abandon a nest and it may be years before breeding pairs attempt again. Scotland, which has a healthy population of eagles, has produced guidelines to assist decision-making in respect of wind farms and potential bird habitat impacts, but no such guidance exists in Ireland, leaving it up to An Bord Pleanála to balance what are potentially conflicting national policies on a case-by-case basis.

While onshore wind farms in the wrong locations can certainly impact on sensitive habitats and species, the wind industry has been rightly critical of local authorities for failing to zone enough sites for onshore wind to meet the national target of powering Ireland with 80 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. Specifically, Wind Energy Ireland argues that the refusal rate in An Bord Pleanála has increased due to what it describes as “anti-wind” county development plans.

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To take the example of a proposed wind farm at Cloghercor, Co Donegal, the site had originally been designated as “Open to Consideration” for wind energy development only to be rezoned during the planning process when Donegal County Council changed its county development plan. The Bord’s inspector recommended refusal, partly on the grounds that the proposed development could threaten this protected species even though the golden eagle was not nesting within the site and that the location of the nest was potentially far enough away from the site for the proposed mitigation measures to suffice.

In changing the zoning Donegal County Council were responding to local objections during a consultation process, which greatly outnumbered those supporting wind development. As a result, wind energy development in many areas of the county will be difficult if not impossible. Following the Bord Pleanála refusal, confirmed recently, the promoters of the Cloghercor project – Danish company Orsted and FuturEnergy, a joint venture between Coillte and the ESB – have now abandoned plans for the site.

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Opposition groups often leverage ecological arguments to block wind farms, when in fact is the (often over-stated) visual impact that bothers most people. But we cannot afford to be pro-species conservation only when it suits other purposes. We need both eagles and wind farms, and somehow our planning system will have to accommodate both.

Sadhbh O’Neill is a climate change and environmental researcher