Abstract
Wind-power takeup has been swift in Spain, with 1072 wind farms and 12,080 wind turbines installed in the country by the end of 2013. Industrial projects of this type have a huge potential impact on birds. SEO/BirdLife has therefore been keeping a close watch on them for some time. It has investigated their impact in the field, has participated actively in the environmental impact assessment procedure (checking more than 500 design projects) and has examined dozens of wind-farm monitoring plans. The conclusion drawn from all this hard work was that wind farms are not being properly assessed. As a result many famrs with a high environmental impact are being authorised. Especially enlightening here was SEO/BirdLife's analysis of over 100 wind farm projects presented in Extremadura in December 2006.