Senator Ian Campbell congratulated the members of the conference for addressing an issue that has been a major barrier to the uptake of wind power in Australia and endorsed the findings of their report.
"Through recommended protocols and reporting standards, the report provides greater certainty that the impacts of wind farms on birds will be assessed and monitored," he said.
"Wind Farms and Birds Interim Standards for Risk Assessment," lays out a framework for assessing proposed wind farm sites and sets reporting and monitoring standards for investigating the effects of wind farms on birds.
The report received $A175,000 funding from the federal government's Renewable Energy Industry Development Program and saw researchers collecting data from and consulting with wind farm operators in Australia and overseas.
Written to best practice environmental management standards, the report is intended to help companies looking to construct wind farms and communities and government bodies that are involved in assessing developments.
The report is available for download from http://www.auswea.com.au , the website of the Australian Wind Energy Association.
