| Summary: | Tese de mestrado em Ciências e Tecnologias do Ambiente apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2007 Renewable energy sources like wind are the best environmental option to combat the climate change, however wind farms can cause negative environmental impacts, especially over animals (disturbance leading to displacement or exclusion, including 'barrier effect'; collision mortality; and loss of, or damage to, habitats). In Portugal, wind farms are usually placed in protected areas, so some people are against their construction, defending that they do not allow the conservation of those areas. As the main aim of this report was to confirm this kind of allegations, all the information available on the subject had been consulted and the expected environmental impacts of some Portuguese wind farm projects had been compared to those which really happened durind and after their construction. For a deeper study it had been chosen the projects sited in the Natural Park of 'Serras de Aire e Candeeiros' and/or in the Site of Community Importance 'Serras de Aire e Candeeiros'. Wind farm assessments in Portugal show low mortality rates of birds and bats and there are no signs of habitat losses. The bat threatened species which had showed higher probability of collide with turbines are Nyctalus noctula (noctule) and Miniopterus schreibersii (common bentwing bat) and the monitoring activities should also consider special attention to individuals of the genus Larus (gulls) and Milvus (kites) and of the species Circus pygargus (Montagu's harrier), Neophron percnopterus (Egyptian vulture) and Pernis apivorus (European honey buzzard). However, there are visual impacts and impacts on the landscape that should be assessment as well as the vibrations and the low frequency noise emitted by wind turbines that are already affecting some families who live near to wind farms. Based on the found information there are made some recommendations that should be consider in the wind farm's environmental impact ...
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