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Seabird Sensitivity Study
Services provided
Client
Countryside Council for Wales
Location
Wales, UK
Year
2011
WWT Consulting was commissioned by The Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) to assess the vulnerability of Welsh seabirds to tidal stream devices, a source of renewable energy. By reviewing their ecology and behavioural traits, a short list was drawn up of those species deemed most at risk.
Existing data, both from European Seabirds at Sea (ESAS) and WWT Consulting’s aerial surveys, were then combined to create abundance and foraging radii maps. These were produced in GIS for each of the identified species, up to 12 Nautical Miles into Welsh territorial waters. A composite abundance map featuring all the species was then produced.
A list of recommendations to be taken into account in determining the significance of any potential encounters between tidal stream devices and sea birds in Welsh waters was agreed with CCW. It was then decided how these factors should be incorporated into an encounter risk model, using the abundance maps.