Before and after: long term monitoring of birds and bats in a wind farm do not show significative impact

Careful monitoring of wind farm installation sites is essential to reduce the impacts generated on birds and bats by these plants.A long-term monitoring program was applied in the design and control of a plant of 6 wind turbines with a height of about 80 m at the hub and a rotor with a diameter of 117 m, located on the mountain ridge between the provinces of Parma and Genoa, in the Emilian Apennines.In 2013, the pre-operation monitoring was conducted, which defined the local faunal conditions.After construction in 2018, the monitoring was repeated, with BACI characteristics, extended until 2023.The nesting birds were recorded by singing from points that allowed us to cover the entire extension of the wind farm, and the migratory passages were verified by sight from salient points.The bats were monitored from listening points with classic bioacoustic methods.