eSensitivity tool launched to protect biodiversity, effective energy planning

The Bombay Natural History Society BNHS BirdLife International and the Asian Development Bank have launched a new open access Sensitivity mapping tool called AVISTEP the Avian Sensitivity Tool for Energy Planning to protect endangered species who have lost their lives due to faulty implementation of renewable energy projectsA dozenodd chinkaras a protected species lost their lives in Rajasthan after being attacked by stray dogs as they could not cross over to safe territories due to the fencing of a solar power plant earlier last weekIn this case it is the chinkaras but a majority of the time it is birds that suffer due to renewable energy plants The distress experienced by the animals especially protected and endangered bird species has been a cause of concern for wildlife enthusiasts who have blamed faulty Environmental Impact Assessments EIAs for the damage caused to wildlife due to renewable energy plants in sensitive habitatsThe global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy presents an opportunity for positive change but if poorly planned could come at the expense of biodiversity Renewable energy projects require large areas of land and if developers only consider the availability of wind and solar resources India or for that matter the world can lose many millions of hectares of natural land areas that store millions of tonnes of carbon and provide habitat to thousands of threatened speciesThe beta launch showcased how the tool will help to identify locations of low sensitivity ideal for development as well as where renewable energy could impact birds and should therefore be avoided BirdLifes Tris Allinson who has led the project said Renewable energy is not truly green unless efforts have been made to limit negative repercussions for biodiversityThe aim of AVISTEP is to prevent the unnecessary loss of birds and biodiversity during the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure It will help developers and regulators identify sites suitable for wind and solar energy and that are unlikely to negatively impact birds as well as areas that are highly sensitive and should be avoided the tooldevelopers saidThe BNHS has been instrumental in guiding the development of AVISTEP by providing information on bird distribution and ground realities throughout India Ramesh Kumar a scientist at the BNHS said The location identification with the help of this tool will be most beneficial to the threatened and high collision risk birds such as Gyps vultures Great Indian Bustard raptors and water birds such as flamingos pelicans and cranes It will also be beneficial for some passerines and ground birds that are displaced due to the renewable energy infrastructureThe ecological imbalance due to the habitat loss of species which are at the top of the food chain could be minimised to a large extent especially in areas such as Western Ghats west and east coasts of India by using this tool he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever