Huascachaca Wind Project would threaten the Andean condor; preventative measures are required

The Minas de Huascachaca Wind Project (PEMH), which is being built in the province of Loja, has caused several alerts due to its possible impact on the population of birds and bats, but especially the Andean condor, which is in a critical state of extinction. The PEMH stands in the Saraguro canton and its works are located on the relatively flat plateaus oriented from south to north, called Uchucay and Yuluc, where the fourteen wind turbines will be located.

The work is in charge of ElecAustro SA and will have an installed capacity of 50 megawatts. 90,000 homes are expected to be energized. Although this type of energy is considered “clean”, it also has an impact on both ecosystems and the species that inhabit them. The Fundación Cóndor Andino Ecuador (FCAE) affirms that the project’s environmental management plan does not include strategies to prevent and mitigate the “worrying” threat that the activities of this work represent for the emblematic bird of Ecuador.

The condor, the endangered bird and national emblem

PEMH is currently 92% complete and is considered the largest wind project in the country. According to Fabricio Narváez, a spokesman for the foundation, having omitted information in the management plan, the Ministry of the Environment did not include corrective measures to prevent deaths from collisions with the wind turbines.

“There are nests and juvenile condors in the area, which are in the learning stages of their flight and are at risk of colliding with these structures. However, adults can also be impacted. The condor population is already low at the national level (it is estimated a maximum average of 150 in the wild), but it is in the south where it is most threatened“, He says.

In the southern part of Ecuador, from the province of Chimborazo to Loja, there is a subpopulation of 28 condors that use this portion of the Ecuadorian territory to carry out their activities. Being such a small number, the death of any of these individuals already generates a strong impact on the population and the risk of extinction is greater. If corrective measures are not taken, the PEMH would add to the other threats that the condor already has: poisoned carrion, hunting, habitat reduction.

Narváez points out that the environmental management plan for the work was carried out in 2012. In this study, it is determined that the bird species in the area are reduced and do not mention birds of prey, such as the condor: “Nobody is asking that the project be dropped, but that it comply with the necessary corrective measures to safeguard the emblematic bird of Ecuador. It is known worldwide that wind power causes the death of hundreds or thousands of birds annually.”.

The FCAE has tried to make several approaches with ElecAustro and has delivered letters since January of this year to the company to request the signing of an agreement to generate the due protections for the condor. However, he has not received a response. Narváez affirms that this surprises them, since the company has participated in different activities that promote the conservation of the bird.

A thirteen-millimeter bullet was found in the body of the condor found in Imbabura

The corrective measures proposed by the foundation are those that have been applied in other countries with similar wind projects: to avoid the so-called “barrier effect”, which causes stress and greater wear and tear on birds, as well as collisions, the area must be analyzed where birds frequently move to locate wind turbines in areas with less impact; use of radars that allow the reduction of the speed of the blades; monitoring and surveillance processes to turn off the wind turbines when birds are flying near the blades; You can also paint the blades in a specific color, with paints with UV marks, or establish deterrent systems.

A wind turbine can exceed speeds of one hundred kilometers per hour, making it almost invisible to birds and having a subduction effect, entangling flying species in air currents.

Animals in danger of extinction in Ecuador: Andean condor

This week, the Prefecture of Loja and the Decentralized Autonomous Government of Oña contacted the Fundación Cóndor Andino to integrate working groups to address the issue and seek to establish prevention and mitigation measures. In addition, the FCAE created a petition through the Change.org citizen activism and change platform to collect five thousand signatures and demand that measures be established to protect the condor in this area.

EL UNIVERSO requested an interview with a representative of ElecAustro, but we were told that the person in charge was in training abroad and that a video call would be arranged for next week. (YO)