Birds and energy: problems and solutions
Reporting meeting on the results of the project “Conservation of endangered species of birds of prey on the Indo-Palearctic migratory flyway in Kazakhstan”
Best Practices on Biodiversity Protection to Support Sustainable and Environmentally Sound Development of Kazakhstan's Energy Sector
This project is supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and Eurasian Wildlife and Peoples International.
About the event:
Organizer: Public Foundation “Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center” (BRCC)
Venue: D. Kunayev Street 7, Rixos President Astana Hotel, D-Hall, Astana, 010000.
Date and time: December 10, 2024 from 10:00 to 13:00 Astana time (GMT+5) with one coffee break.
Participation fee: free of charge for all participation formats, the number of offline participants is limited, requires registration and coordination with the organizer.
Participation format: participant, journalist
Technical format of participation: offline + online broadcast in Zoom
Language of the event: Russian + simultaneous translation into Kazakh language
Participants:
Representatives of government agencies, quasi-public sector companies, energy companies, international financial institutions, non-profit organizations, and media representatives
On the problem of bird deaths at electric power infrastructure facilities
According to the results of studies by Russian and Kazakh experts, an average of up to 9 birds of prey per every 10 kilometers of overhead power lines (OPL) with a capacity of 6-10 kV die from electric shock in Kazakhstan every year. Almost half of them are rare, listed in the Red Book. The length of 6-10 kV transmission lines in Kazakhstan is more than 80 thousand kilometers.
According to data published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in South Africa and Canada, bird mortality at wind farms averages 4.6 and 8.2 birds per turbine per year, respectively. In Kazakhstan, there are no full-fledged studies on bird mortality at wind power plants, despite the very rapid development of wind energy. At the same time, the majority of wind power plants in Kazakhstan are located or designed in the migration corridors of many rare bird species or near their nesting sites. Kazakhstan's power engineers do not take into account the mistakes made earlier by other countries, which may carry reputational, environmental and financial risks for investors and for Kazakhstan as a whole.
Environmental and energy legislation does not provide clear guidance on how such problems are addressed and resolved. With the high rate of development of the electric power industry, there is an urgent need to define rules and regulations that minimize bird mortality at electric power infrastructure facilities.
The report meeting “Birds and Energy: Problems and Solutions” summarizes the two-year (from 2022 to 2024) work of the BRCC team on the project “Conservation of Endangered Raptors in the Indo-Palaearctic Flyway in Kazakhstan”, one of the objectives of which is to develop a knowledge base and best practices for biodiversity protection in key project areas to support sustainable and environmentally sound development of Kazakhstan's energy sector.
The program of the event includes the Report on the results of the conducted research and stakeholder engagement, as well as the Address to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Press Conference for the mass media (mass media).
Program of the Reporting Meeting
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Time |
Subject |
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09:30 |
Registration | |
| Welcome speech | ||
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10:00 |
Andrey Kim, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Asylkhan Asylbekov, Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. Lizza Protas, CEPF representative in Central Asia Moderator: Nurlan Ongarbayev, BRCC Executive Director |
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| Module 1: Report and presentations | ||
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10:15 |
Genrietta Pulikova, BRCC Researcher. Review of BRCC activities and Report on the project “Conservation of Endangered Species of Birds of Prey on the Indo-Palearctic Migratory Flyway in Kazakhstan”.
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10:30 |
Igor Karyakin, Independent Expert. Mapping risks of wind energy development for birds: methodological approaches and results
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10:45 |
Nurlan Ongarbayev, BRCC Executive Director. Birds and energy: problems and solutions
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11:00 |
Coffee break | |
| Module 2: Address to the Government and Media Press Conference | ||
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11:20 |
Nurlan Ongarbayev, BRCC Executive Director. Address to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan | |
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11:30 |
Question and Answer Section | |
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11:40 |
Interview section (press output) | |
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12:15 |
Closing remarks and closing of the event | |
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RU 
KZ