A series of training seminars on “Birds and Energy”: results

On November 13, November 26 and December 3, 2024, as part of the CEPF-supported project on the conservation of endangered birds of prey on the Indo-Palearctic Migratory Flyway in Kazakhstan, we held a series of online workshops on “Birds and Energy” for three different categories of audience. All three seminars were united by one common theme of bird deaths at power lines and power plants (scale of the problem, causes of bird deaths, statistics, modern solutions). However, our main idea was to emphasize in each workshop those aspects of the problem that would be most relevant and useful for a specific target group of listeners.

The participants of the first online seminar “How the State Can Preserve Biodiversity” were specialists from the Departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Management Regulation under the regional akimats, which are responsible, in particular, for environmental assessment of land allocation for the construction of energy infrastructure facilities. The civil servants were told about the stages and tools of state environmental control, tariffs and solvency of owners of overhead power lines, and the impact of the proposed measures on small and medium-sized businesses.

The second workshop was addressed to investment project managers, auditors, ESG rating agency staff and other stakeholders. It covered, among other things, such issues as international standards in the field of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) and biodiversity and the main risks for investors associated with biodiversity violations.

The final workshop in the series invited ecologists, ESG officers, and sustainability specialists from energy companies designing or implementing power projects. They were given an extended overview of current bird-proofing solutions in the field of energy transmission and wind power generation, as well as the main approaches to conducting qualitative biodiversity research.

The total audience of the online seminars amounted to more than 30 people.
In the future, we will continue our efforts to raise awareness among all stakeholders of the risks, threats, scope of the problem of bird deaths at power generation facilities, as well as ways and methods to address it.
Online seminar presentations in PDF format are available on the seminars page: https://www.brcc.kz/projects-and-plans/death-of-birds-on-power-lines/birds-and-energy-series-of-workshops/