Poorly sited or inadequately designed renewables projects can affect wildlife through habitat loss and fragmentation (e.g. roads, fencing and clearing), disturbance during construction and operation, and direct collision with wind turbine blades.
Birds and bats can be significantly impacted by renewable energy infrastructure, but correct project siting, smart designs and latest technology can greatly improve wildlife outcomes, especially when coupled with research that informs adaptive management.
On the other hand, with careful siting to avoid threatened species habitat, thoughtful design, smart operational practices, and monitoring linked to adaptive management, numerous studies indicate that wildlife can coexist with renewable energy developments. Well designed solar farms can even benefit some species due to extra shelter and food resources, reduced disturbance and protection from predators.
However, deployment is outpacing scientific knowledge in some contexts, highlighting an urgent need for targeted ecological research so proponents can implement the most effective, evidence‑based conservation strategies.
Bats
Bats can be attracted to wind turbines, resulting in injuries and death from direct collision. This is causing significant concern for local and global population declines and the loss of vital ecosystem services that insectivorous bats provide such as insect control and pollination.
Despite the potential impacts, the Australasian Bat Society supports renewables and outlines ten key principles to have a viable wind industry with no net loss to bat species, including 1) increasing scientific rigour of pre-construction assessments enabling better wind farm design and micro-siting of turbines, and 2) improved transparency and data sharing .
Scientific literature (e.g. Nagy et al. (2026)) has shown that there is some interaction between bats and wind farm turbines, related to feeding and social activity, especially during the breeding season. This interaction can be fatal for bats due to the risk of collision with turbine blades. This drawing illustrates the possible interaction between bats and wind turbines associated with singing behaviour and echolocation.
Reference
Nagy, M., Hochradel, K., Haushalter, C. et al. (2026) Song flight and 3D thermal detection provide evidence for bat attraction to wind turbines in Central Europe. Communications Biology, 9, 460. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-09882-7
Birds
Bird displacement and collision risk at wind farms varies by species, location and wind farm design, highlighting a need for species-specific and site-specific considerations. Birds most susceptible to collision with turbine blades include soaring birds (raptors), nocturnal migrants and birds in large flocks. Proximity of turbines to migratory routes, breeding grounds and foraging areas increases the risk of collision.
Blades that rotate more slowly and are more visible to birds (e.g. patterned) can reduce collision, but the most important best practice is to avoid critical habitat in the first place.
Birds have the same problem as bats. The birds have a high collision risk for flying around the turbine blades during their displacement. The most common birds are soaring birds (raptors), nocturnal migrants, and birds in large flocks.
Image credit: “線西風機和鳥類飛行互動關係 Interactions between wind turbines and birds: alternation of avian flight path 13-6” flickr photo by Changhua Coast Conservation Action https://flickr.com/photos/waders/138222356 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA 2.0) license
Best Practice Examples: Wildlife Conservation
- Project sited away from habitat, especially for bats and at-risk birds.
- Wind farms commit to ongoing bird and bat monitoring and impact mitigation, going beyond current statutory requirements.
- Adequate buffer distances of all works from core habitat, based on research.
- Wildlife management plans are customised with local data.
- Wildlife collision risk at wind farms is minimised, with evidence of scientific rigour during both design and operation. Latest technology is utilised, such as for bird and bat detection, tracking and curtailment.
- Where installing fencing, design allows native wildlife to pass through whilst restricting feral animals, including predators.
- Investment in independent ongoing research and monitoring to allow adaptive management to continue to improve outcomes for wildlife.
- Legacy of net positive environmental outcomes on-site.
One of the best current practices to reduce collision mortality is ‘curtailment’, i.e. changing the speed and operation of wind turbine blades when risk of wildlife collision is high. Research suggests that mandating ‘blanket curtailment’ at wind farms with turbine cut in speeds of >7m/s in temperate areas or >5m/s in the tropics would allow research to catch up with site-specific ‘smart curtailment’, and/or other effective impact mitigation strategies, for local bird and bat species.
Adequate buffers from forest edges and even isolated paddock trees are also important in reducing impacts, however again, Australian data is lacking. Buffers of at least 200 m from the outer blade tip are recommended, until there is sufficient local data from research to inform the size of effective buffer zones .
Only projects that are sited and designed well, demonstrating commitment to environmental best practice, positive land use coexistence outcomes and long-term community benefit, should gain our communities approval.
Projects should be scrutinised by the local community and only those committed to wildlife and broader environmental best practice should be accepted. Projects should be able to demonstrate a legacy of net positive environmental and social outcomes. Community members can request proponents invest in independent ongoing research and monitoring in and around a project site, that goes above statutory requirements, to gain the critical information needed for adaptive management and impact mitigation for local species and habitats.