Renewable energy vs. biodiversity: Policy conflicts and the future of nature conservation

Jackson, Andrew L.

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.07.001

Cited by 79 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Similar problems, e.g. administrative, scientific (lack of data and tools) and social, were also encountered in other countries (in UK: Ledoux et al 2000;in Greece: Apostolopoulou and Pantis 2009;in Finland: Björkell 2008, Hiedanpää 2002in Germany: Stoll-Kleeman 2001a, b;in Ireland: Bryan 2012) and at the European scale (Keulartz 2009;Julien et al 2000;Jackson 2011). Many environmental diagnoses were questioned, notably for potentially unreliable methods due to insufficient financial and human resources and a lack of data control, which slowed the implementation of new Natura 2000 sites at local level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network to cover threatened species

Trochet¹,

Schmeller²

2013

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The world's biodiversity is currently in rapid decline -Europe being no exception -with as principal cause a human-mediated global change. The Natura 2000 network is an important conservation tool for European biodiversity; it is a network of natural and semi-natural sites within Europe with high heritage values due to the exceptional flora and fauna they contain. Here, we evaluated the coverage of 300 threatened species by the Natura 2000 network, and determined potential factors influencing the designation of sites and the structure of the network within a country (social, ecological and demographic national factors). Our analysis was based on a coverage ratio between the Natura 2000 sites and distribution maps of threatened European species. We showed that the distributions of a large proportion of threatened species of mammals, birds and reptiles considered in our study were highly covered (above 90%) by the current Natura 2000 network, demonstrating that the Natura 2000 network also covers species not listed in the annexes of the Nature Directives. However, our results confirm that a large proportion of threatened species (some of them listed on the European annexes), especially fishes, are currently poorly covered by the Natura 2000 network. The coverage of species likely seemed to be highly related to national demographic factors, i.e. the proportion of the national urban population. Our analysis also suggested that the designation of sites depends too strongly on governmental politics, economic and cultural criteria, and interactions between society and the environment. A more effective process might be necessary to ensure the Natura 2000 network reaches its potential as the most important and comprehensive network of protected areas intended to halt the loss of biodiversity in Europe in the near future.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network to cover threatened species

Trochet¹,

Schmeller²

2013

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“…Application of a program to set aside forest areas for conservation purposes (Jackson, 2011) has increased extensively in Europe and easement contracts between forest owners and conservational organizations are increasing in the USA (Doremus, 2003;Rissman et al, 2007). These programs aim to protect and enhance floristic and faunal biodiversity by limiting development activities, especially in vulnerable areas.…”

Section: Status Of Norwegian Domestic Wood Resource Utilization In a mentioning

confidence: 99%

Post forest reversal discussion: Restructuring public subsidy system for private forests under the differences of topographic conditions in Norway

Shigematsu

Sato

2013

Land Use Policy

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“…Unfortunately, this green versus green dilemma (Woody 2010) is clearly visible in the case of renewable energy versus biodiversity protection goals (Jackson 2011), or its equivalent in the environmental groups versus green energy phenomenon (Yonk et al 2013). Jackson (2011) even raised the question of whether provisions for biodiversity protection are sacrosanct, even if they impede the progress of policies aimed at addressing climate change. Instruments for dealing with this delicate challenge, such as strategic environmental assessments, still often fail to avert conflicts on early planning levels (Geißler 2013).…”

Section: Precautionary Principle: a Mandate For Vigilance And Its Limmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cautious but Committed: Moving Toward Adaptive Planning and Operation Strategies for Renewable Energy’s Wildlife Implications

Köppel

Dahmen

Helfrich

et al. 2014

Environmental Management

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Wildlife planning for renewable energy must cope with the uncertainties of potential wildlife impacts. Unfortunately, the environmental policies which instigate renewable energy and those which protect wildlife are not coherently aligned-creating a green versus green dilemma. Thus, climate mitigation efforts trigger renewable energy development, but then face substantial barriers from biodiversity protection instruments and practices. This article briefly reviews wind energy and wildlife interactions, highlighting the lively debated effects on bats. Today, planning and siting of renewable energy are guided by the precautionary principle in an attempt to carefully address wildlife challenges. However, this planning attitude creates limitations as it struggles to negotiate the aforementioned green versus green dilemma. More adaptive planning and management strategies and practices hold the potential to reconcile these discrepancies to some degree. This adaptive approach is discussed using facets of case studies from policy, planning, siting, and operational stages of wind energy in Germany and the United States, with one case showing adaptive planning in action for solar energy as well. This article attempts to highlight the benefits of more adaptive approaches as well as the possible shortcomings, such as reduced planning security for renewable energy developers. In conclusion, these studies show that adaptive planning and operation strategies can be designed to supplement and enhance the precautionary principle in wildlife planning for green energy.

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Renewable energy vs. biodiversity: Policy conflicts and the future of nature conservation

Cited by 79 publications

References 13 publications

Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network to cover threatened species

Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network to cover threatened species

Post forest reversal discussion: Restructuring public subsidy system for private forests under the differences of topographic conditions in Norway

Cautious but Committed: Moving Toward Adaptive Planning and Operation Strategies for Renewable Energy’s Wildlife Implications

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