A first approach to deal with cumulative effects on birds and bats of offshore wind farms and other human activities in the southern North Sea

Abstract

Around 100 offshore wind farms are scheduled to be operational by 2023 in the southern North Sea (51-56°N) alone. There may be two sides to this development in environmental terms: on the one hand this will help reduce CO2 emissions, on the other hand protected North Sea biota may be negatively impacted. This report considers the cumulative impact of all projected wind farms in the southern North Sea (by 2023) on birds and bats.