September 28, 2023 – At the 7th Conference on Wind energy and Wildlife impacts – CWW 2023, held in Šibenik from September 18 to 22, 2023, Oikon’s experts actively participated through a series of presentations. The presenters at the conference were carefully selected by the Scientific Advisory Committee, who had to follow the strict rules and criteria for selection, which further emphasized the importance of this conference and the selected presenters.
Zoran Poljanec gave a talk entitled “Assessing Environmental and Spatial Factors for Offshore Renewable Energy Development in Croatia” on the topic of the Action Plan for Offshore Renewable Energy in Croatia, as part of which we located areas of the Adriatic Sea suitable for the development of offshore renewable energy technologies – primarily wind power plants, but also floating photovoltaic power plants, taking into account numerous aspects in order to make their development acceptable to nature and the environment.
Marta Renje gave a talk entitled “Micro-siting of mitigation measures at three wind farms in southern Croatia help reduce bat mortality and minimize energy losses“, in cooperation with Supernatural. She presented a comparison of the effectiveness of the application of specifically designed protection measures for bats at several wind farms in Croatia, and the main conclusion was that adaptive management should be continuously implemented during the operation of the wind farm.
Dr. Lidija Šver gave a talk entitled “Testing habitat sensitivity maps for large carnivores focused on the results of gray wolf monitoring by camera traps prior to the construction of wind farms – a case study from Croatia” in which she presented the research activities of several Oikon wildlife experts.
Ksenija Hocenski contributed to a presentation entitled “First Griffon Vultures Fatality Monitoring Program in Croatia“, which was presented at the conference by independent expert Boris Božić. He talked about the first post-construction fatality monitoring program for Griffon Vultures in Croatia and a case study on how to design and conduct the fatality monitoring program for the species in the region.
Dr. Goran Gužvica presented a poster “Methods for monitoring large carnivores in wind farm impact assessments“. The presentation contains examples of the application of the methods for monitoring large carnivores in order to assess their habitat use in the areas of the planned wind farms in Croatia.
The main goal of the 7th Conference on Wind energy and Wildlife impacts – CWW 2023 was to find a solution for the sustainable development of wind power plants that includes the protection of nature and the environment. Organized by Oikon and Supernatural, and under patronage of the European Parliament and the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education, this very current and important conference gathered more than 600 participants from all over the world.
