More about windmills and blanket bogs

In the previous IMCG Newsletters we have repeatedly reported on windmill parks being planned on blanket bog areas. Besides being windy places, blanket bogs represent systems of high natural value and are listed as priority habitat under the EU Natura 2000 directives.

Following are two cases of wind mill parks planned on blanket mires in the UK and in Spain.

Zalama in Northern Spain

Zalama blanket bog is located at the Easternmost end of the Cantabrian Range in Northern Spain (on the limits of the Basque Country with Burgos and Cantabria provinces) and this site constitutes the distributional limits of this type of habitat both to the East (in Spain) and South (in Europe).

It occupies the top of Zalama Mountain (1330 m) and originally covered an area of 6.4 hectares. It has been badly affected by fires used by cattle breeders to control pastures, and there is at least evidence of one large fire on the peat 15 years ago. A considerable part of the peat area was subsequently washed away by wind and rain. Nowadays the burnt area is occupied by bare rock and mineral soil.

The blanket bog still covers 4,2 hectares, with a maximum depth of 2 m. Some typical features are small gullies on the Northern slope. The surface is formed of a wet heath dominated by Calluna vulgaris and Erica tetralix, with scattered populations of Sphagnum spp. Several other representatives of mire habitats can be found, such as Carex echinata, Eriophorum angustifolium, Juncus effussus, J. squarrosus, Molinia caerulea, and Scirpus cespitosus. More importantly, among these plants there is Eriophorum vaginatum, a very rare species in Spain, with just a few populations in the Cantabrian Range and some in the Catalonian Pyrenees. The Zalama population is quite large and looks healthy. Recently, E. vaginatum was included in the Basque Catalogue of Threatened Species of Fauna and Flora, since its only Basque population is precisely Zalama bog.

The blanket bog suffers from a long and slow, but continuous degradation process. For instance, over the last 15 years, there is evidence of continued species loss, namely, a number of the wettest exigent bryophytes (Gymnocolea inflata, Aulacomnium palustre, Campylopus flexuosus, Dicranum bonjeanii, Polytrichum commune, etc.). On the other hand, an increased presence of typical species of a dry heath has been observed, such as Agrostis curtisii, Erica cinerea, Galium saxatile, Rumex acetosella or Sedum anglicum. It is also worth noting that the exotic bryophyte species Campylopus introflexus is invading the site.

Despite not being displayed in any map (geological, vegetation or others) and despite its small size, it was not invisible to the eye of peat exploiters. Its exploitation was finally considered non-profitable (although nearby fen areas were destroyed!). And now, beside the fires and the grazing and the threats of exploitation, there is a final attempt to make it vanish: the ecologically friendly way of generating energy: windmills.

Spain is currently second in the rank of windmill installation, after Germany. Mountainous as it is, most Spanish windmills are being placed on the summits of entire minor ranges, where impact on landscape is overwhelming, and worse, reaching areas that had been ecologically well preserved due to difficult access. In other words, Spain is trying real hard to industrialize its final wild areas left (let us hope not the National Parks) in the name of defending the environment. Leaving aside impacts on the landscape, birds, bats, etc., and focusing only on blanket bogs, windmills also threaten the largest and best preserved Spanish blanket bogs in Galicia.

Continuing the energetic self sufficiency policy in the Basque Country, a large windmill area has been projected extending exactly from the top of Zalama mountain (sweeping away all traces of peat) extending over 13 km to the East; the park is projected to include 57 generators of 55 metres high, and a subsequently dense net of construction and access roads on the steep slopes.

Local environmentalist groups and scientists are putting considerable effort into trying to stop the project or lessen its impact. Besides the Zalama blanket bog, there are interesting “para-peaty habitats” or mire-like systems in the nearby site of Salduero, where typical mire plants thrive. These habitats will also be affected by the windmill project.

Over the last years, several studies and technical reports have been made to increase the knowledge on the characteristics of the biotope and to show its natural values (Heras & Infante 2003-04). These studies have offered a baseline for the windmill impact evaluation process. There is still some hope to save the Zalama nature as the company has unofficially given up on the first generators, and would even be willing to contribute to a restoration project to amend the damage already done. We are still working...

Heras, P. & Infante, M. 2003-2004. La turbera cobertor del Zalama (Burgos – Vizcaya): un enclave único en riesgo de desaparición. Estudios del Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Alava 18-19: 45-53.

Lewis wind farm

The Scottish Executive has been warned that it would be acting illegally if it allows developers to build one of the world’s biggest wind farms in an environmentally sensitive area that is home to endangered species of birds, including golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos).

The proposed 234-turbine project on the Isle of Lewis would be sited near precious peatlands protected under European law. The plans have outraged environmentalists, who claim that the wind farm threatens colonies of eagles, black-throated divers (Gavia arctica) and species of wader.

While the 460ft-high turbines will not infringe on the peatlands, there is concern that an extensive 104-mile road network criss-crossing the landscape will cause irreparable damage. The complex will comprise dozens of pylons, nine electricity substations, and five quarries.

It is claimed the wind farm would be capable of producing 700 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1m homes and meet 6% of Britain’s renewables target by 2010. The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), however, have warned ministers that backing the scheme would amount to a breach of their legal duty to protect Scotland’s natural heritage under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, which came into force last month. They have threatened to refer the project to the European Court if it gets the go-ahead.

Thorne & Hatfield

Thorne and Hatfield Moors, together with Goole and Crowle Moors, make up the largest complex of lowland raised bog in Britain, a nationally rare and endangered habitat.

Peat extractors Scotts, the firm which owned the site until last year, had a licence for milling peat until 2025, by which time environment activists feared the peatland would be reduced to sand and gravel. But three years ago Scotts agreed to sell its stake for £17.3m and hand the site back to English Nature.

Environment Minister Elliot Morley recently revealed plans to transform the area – the Humberhead Levels, which stretches from Selby in North Yorkshire to Retford in Nottinghamshire taking in Thorne, Crowle and Goole Moors, as well as Hatfield – into a major green tourism destination.

But local groups fear this is not enough to protect the area, which they say is under threat from numerous windfarms. So far there are six applications being considered by the Department of Trade and Industry with a further 13 prospective plans in the pipeline. If all these were given the go-ahead more than 300 turbines would dominate the area Campaigners fear this will mean the extinction of certain species, like the nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), from the site.

The plans for the windfarms are part of a Government remit to create more “green” energy, seem in direct conflict with the environment Ministers’ aims.

Department of Trade and Industry officials said it was not up to the Government to decide and any planning application would be looked at not only in terms of its use of green energy but also on its environmental impact.

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