Abstract
The Dutch governmental offshore wind ecological programme (Wozep) was established to expand the knowledge base about how wind farms affect protected species so that it will be possible to arrive at the best possible estimate of the ecological impact during the preparations for new road maps (proposed areas for wind farms in the years to come). A cumulative effect assessment is therefore being made to determine whether the proposed wind farms (and those in place) will have a significant impact on the numbers of the protected birds, bats and marine mammals. The cumulative effect assessment is made with the KEC (Framework for Assessing Ecological and Cumulative Effects). The Wozep research results are used to improve these KEC calculations.
The primary focus of Wozep is on the protected species that are directly affected by the wind turbines. The concerns here are collisions of birds and bats with turbines, birds avoiding the wind farms, the effect of underwater noise on harbour porpoises and seals, and the possible effect of electromagnetic fields around the cables. Secondly, there is research looking at changes in the habitats of marine mammals and birds associated with the arrival of the wind farms. Changes in these habitats (amount of food available, resting place, settlement options for benthos) can also have an effect on the numbers and condition of the animals referred to here. And finally, since 2018, Wozep has also been using models to look at the possible impact of wind farms on physical processes (waves, currents, turbidity, etc.) in the North Sea. These physical processes constitute the basis of the North Sea ecosystem and they affect the food web and ultimately the vulnerable species.
The following are presentations from the Tussenstand Wozep 2021 Meeting.
Een individu gebaseerd model van de kleine mantelmeeuw om aanvaringssterfte mee te schatten - Floor Soudijn (WMR), Rob van Bemmelen (BuWa),
Abel Gyimesi (BuWa), Astrid Potiek (BuWa) & Tobias van Kooten (WMR)
Tussentijdse evaluatie Wozep: In hoeverre zijn de onderzoeksvragen beantwoord? - Saskia Mulder, Jens Odinga, Debby Barbé, Sophie de Reus, Job van den Berg
Bruinvis Netwerk Borssele - Roelant Snoek (WaterProof), Steve Geelhoed (WMR), Marije Siemensma / Niels Kinneging (RWS)
WOZEP update: Starten van een zenderpilot voor bruinvissen - Anne-Marie Svoboda
Surveying Seabirds Digitally: Digital aerial bird and marine mammal surveys in Borssele - WOZEP, Bureau Waardenburg Ecologie & Landscape, HiDef Aerial Surveying
Zwarte wiek prov groningen a brenninkmeijer
Wozep Webinar: Tussenstand 2021 - Wozep projectteam, RWS WVL/ZD (Kees Borst, Wouter van Broekhoven, Martine Graafland, Maarten de Jong, Niels Kinneging, Dagmar van Nieuwpoort, Maarten Platteeuw, Marije Siemensma, Ingeborg van Splunder, Jos de Visser, Merijn Zandstra