Ensuring safe ecological corridor for breeding and migrating birds between the Alps and the Adriatic

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

In Slovenia, a number of breeding and migratory bird species — especially the Eagle owl (Bubo bubo), Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), Red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus) and Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) — face electrocution from medium- and high-voltage power lines, collisions with wind turbines, and the increasingly popular sport of paragliding.

In the Kras Special Protected Area (SPA), for example, 176km out of 282km of power lines (62%) are  classified as dangerous for birds. Each Eagle owl nest has an average of 71 dangerous medium-voltage electric poles within a 2km radius, the area most frequented by breeding individuals. Electrocution is the main cause of fatalities among Eagle owls — 26 such deaths were reported in Slovenia in just two years (2007-2008). Research suggests that electrocution could pose an even greater threat to Griffon vultures. For the Eurasian curlew — which is on the verge of extinction in the Ljubljana Marsh SPA — recent fatalities have included 2 collisions with high-voltage power lines.

 

Wind turbines also pose a significant threat. Wind farms are planned either in or near Kras and Vipavski rob SPAs (84 turbines), as well as Griže-Veliko Polje (9) Senožeška Brda (40) Dolenja vas (11); Zajčica (14) and Čičarija (80). Most of the proposed ‘wind farms of national importance’ lie in the breeding and feeding habitats of  the Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and Short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus), and on one of the main migration corridors of the Griffon vulture and other vulnerable bird species.

OBJECTIVES

The LIFE FOR LIFELINES project aims to safeguard the migration corridor between the Alps and Adriatic by reducing the number of deaths by electrocution. 

 

The project’s specific objectives are to:

• gather up-to-date reliable data on bird migration routes to improve the existing bird sensitivity maps for use in government infrastructure planning

• assess the impact of paragliding on the feeding and nesting habitats of vultures and eagles
• make medium-voltage transmission lines and poles safer for birds by:
  • mounting insulator caps on poles
  • developing and piloting new types of bird-friendly poles
  • disseminating the results of the pilots at conferences and workshops
  • drawing up and adopting mandatory technical guidelines for bird protection on medium-voltage transmission lines throughout the whole of Slovenia
  • equipping 2.95km of high-voltage power lines in the Ljubljansko barje SPA curlew breeding hotspot with warning markers
• connect the Kras, Snežnik - Pivka, Ljubljansko barje, Vipavski rob, Banjšice, Breginjski stol and Julijci SPAs by an ecological corridor mainly free of wind turbines, significant electrocution hazards and paragliders to allow Griffon vultures and other species to migrate safely
• include this ecological corridor  in the management plans of Triglav National Park and Škocjan Caves Park
• improve maps of bottlenecks, migration corridors and proposed wind farms, and integrating them into existing studies and expert reports to produce publicly-available spatial data on no-go, go-to and single-point-of-use zones
• concluding an agreement with the Slovenian Free Flight Association (SFFA) that by the end of the project, paragliders will not fly in sensitive areas
• identify the long-term impacts of energy infrastructure on birds and SPAs covered by the project
• create a new regional landscape park with very high biodiversity value located within the migration corridor and the Snežnik-Pivka SPA
• establish a new international ecological corridor coordination body covering Slovenia, Italy and Croatia to systematically share experiences and solutions, and to produce a report on the future conservation of the corridor
• raise awareness among the wider public, energy sector and government bodies about the need for safer power lines and a safe ecological corridor for the breeding and migration of bird species of conservation importance

RESULTS

The project’s expected results are:

• safeguarding of vulnerable bird species migrating through, and breeding in, Slovenian Natura 2000 sites
• creation of a new regional landscape park created inside the migration corridor and inside the Snežnik-Pivka SPA
• insulator caps mounted on 1 150 poles in the Kras, Vipavski rob, Snežnik - Pivka, Ljubljansko Barje and Banjšice SPAs
• 10 new bird-friendly poles piloted in the Kras and Vipavski rob SPAs
• a handbook for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) to determine the long-term impacts of energy infrastructure
• use of this handbook in EIAs mandatory within 5 years of project closure
• a conference for Alpine and Balkan countries at which the results of pilots and other initiatives will be presented
• a reduction of 90% in fatal electrocutions among Eagle owls, Griffon vultures and Eurasia curlews by the end of the project
• a reduction of 70% in fatal collisions along the 2.95km of high-voltage power lines equipped with new warning markers
• a reduction of 90% in the number of paragliders in sensitive areas
• new national mandatory guidelines for isolating at least 50% of medium-voltage power lines in biodiversity-critical areas across Slovenia implemented within 5 years of the end of the project
• at least 1 additional neighbouring country adopting similar solutions within 5 years of the en of the project
• project results and guidelines included in the revised Natura 2000 management plan