GUIDELINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF BATS IN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF WIND FARMS IN BRAZIL: A COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE EXPERIENCE FROM RIO GRANDE DO SUL STATE

Autores

  • Maria João Ramos Pereira Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Marília A. S. Barros Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
  • Thais Stefanski Chaves Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS)
  • Ana Maria Rui Universidade Federal de Pelotas
  • João Carlos Dotto Secretaria do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Aloísio Braun Fundação Estadual de Proteção Ambiental Henrique Luiz Roessler
  • Janine Barbosa Fundação Estadual de Proteção Ambiental Henrique Luiz Roessler
  • Enrico Bernard Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
  • Ludmilla M. S. Aguiar Universidade de Brasília
  • Andreas Kindel Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Dênis A. Sana Secretaria do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Grande do Sul

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4257/oeco.2017.2103.02

Palavras-chave:

Chiroptera, environmental licensing, renewable energy, sustainable development, wind energy

Resumo

In recent years Brazil has become the third largest market for new investments in wind power in the world. Though a change in the national policy towards more sustainable energy sources is desirable, wind energy is not free from negative impacts. According to studies done in the temperate region, bats are negatively affected by wind farms, due to fatalities resulting from direct collision with the turbines or from barotrauma. If in many countries national and international laws follow guidelines for consideration of potential impacts of wind farms on bats, and even consider potential minimization and mitigation schemes, the Brazilian current normative for wind farm licencing presents vague approaches on this matter. With a few exceptions, states are the main responsible for the licencing processes. In this context, a joint initiative in Rio Grande do Sul, the state with the third highest wind power generation in Brazil, put together the Secretary of State for the Environment and Sustainable Development of Rio Grande do Sul, the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and the Brazilian Society for the Study of Bats to set reference terms for consideration of bats in impact assessments of wind farms in the state. Consensus was built from a collaborative process resulting from a two-day workshop involving technicians and academics with expertise in bat biology, conservation and management. Guidelines were divided into pre-installation, construction, and operation phases, considering the decisions to make, potential impacts and relevant questions to answer, methodological and technical recommendations or constraints, and current gaps in knowledge. Here we describe this collaborative experience hoping it can be replicable in other Brazilian states and used by other potentially impacting sectors. With few adaptations and considering specificities in the regional bat fauna and environmental conditions, the proposed reference terms can be used elsewhere in Brazil.

Biografia do Autor

Maria João Ramos Pereira, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Assistant ProfessorDepartamento de Zoologia, PPGBAN & PPG Ecologia Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil

Marília A. S. Barros, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

PhD StudentDepartamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife (PE), Brazil

Thais Stefanski Chaves, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS)

MSc StudentPPGBAN Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil

Ana Maria Rui, Universidade Federal de Pelotas

Assistant Professor Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Genética, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas (RS), Brazil

João Carlos Dotto, Secretaria do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Grande do Sul

Setor de Fauna, Departamento de Biodiversidade, Secretaria do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil

Aloísio Braun, Fundação Estadual de Proteção Ambiental Henrique Luiz Roessler

Fundação Estadual de Proteção Ambiental Henrique Luiz Roessler, Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil

Janine Barbosa, Fundação Estadual de Proteção Ambiental Henrique Luiz Roessler

Fundação Estadual de Proteção Ambiental Henrique Luiz Roessler, Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil

Enrico Bernard, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife (PE), Brazil

Ludmilla M. S. Aguiar, Universidade de Brasília

Assistant Professor, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília (DF), Brazil

Andreas Kindel, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Departamento de Ecologia, PPG Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil

Dênis A. Sana, Secretaria do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Grande do Sul

Setor de Fauna, Departamento de Biodiversidade, Secretaria do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil

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Publicado

2017-11-10