A local initiative is challenging wind farm projects in the Algarve over biodiversity impacts, warning of risks to birds of prey, the Iberian lynx, and local communities in the north-eastern Algarve.
The Platform for Sustainability and Biodiversity of the Algarve and Alentejo (PPSBAA) has spoken out against proposed modifications to wind energy projects in the Algarve, calling for an unfavourable ruling in the Environmental Impact Assessment.
At issue are projects located in Viçoso, Pereiro, São Marcos, and Albercas, whose proposed alterations have been under public consultation since 2nd April and remain open until 17th April. In the opinion submitted, the PPSBAA argues that the proposal “fails to address the structural problems” previously identified and continues to generate “significant and very significant impacts” on ecological systems.
Having already expressed opposition to the projects in earlier stages, the PPSBAA again warns of negative consequences for birdlife and for ecological processes linked to the functional integrity of the territory, an area regarded as highly environmentally sensitive.
According to the organisation, despite the relocation or reduction of some wind turbines, the revised proposal maintains the same development logic and lacks a sufficiently robust assessment of its suitability to the landscape.
“The project’s central problem remains unchanged: the occupation of an ecologically sensitive territory, functioning as a multifunctional ecological corridor, by a large-scale wind energy infrastructure,” the statement reads.
The organisation also highlights the proximity of the developments to protected areas, including the Vale do Guadiana Natural Park and the Caldeirão Special Area of Conservation, arguing that a more precautionary approach should guide the project’s evaluation.
Species potentially affected include several birds of prey, among them Bonelli’s eagle, the golden eagle, the Iberian imperial eagle, the northern goshawk, and the Eurasian eagle-owl, facing risks of collision and disruption to established flight routes.
Mammals such as the Iberian lynx may also be impacted, in a region where reintroduction programmes for the species are currently under way.
The PPSBAA further raises concerns over potential effects on nearby human populations, notably noise exposure and impacts associated with low-frequency sound and infrasound. Concluding that significant risks to biodiversity, the landscape, and local communities remain unresolved, the group vehemently calls for the proposal to not go ahead.
Source: PPSBAA
