With seabirds in crisis, Ministers must say no to Berwick Bank

Scottish Ministers are about to decide whether to grant permission to one of the world’s biggest offshore windfarms – a development that would be a disaster for seabirds.

SSE Renewables’ proposal for Berwick Bank, off the East Lothian coast, consists of over 300 turbines covering 1,000 square kilometres – that’s an area four times the size of Edinburgh. Each of the 300 turbines would be the height of six Scott Monuments. The developers’ own modelling shows Berwick Bank would kill huge numbers of seabirds that are already under-pressure such as Kittiwakes, Puffins, Razorbills, and Gannets. The application area is adjacent to protected nature sites and overlaps with the location of vital breeding grounds.

The ramp up of renewables, including offshore wind, and the end of fossil fuels are essential to a liveable planet, but Berwick Bank would deal a devastating blow to the natural world that we are part of. The latest Seabird Census shows Scotland's seabird abundance has crashed in recent decades with 70% of populations in decline, and further falls expected when we add the impact of avian influenza.

We must hope that ministers conclude, as we and many others have, that the damage would be too great, and the application should be refused. 

It’s a real test for the Scottish Government, which has said good things about addressing environmental collapse. First Minister Humza Yousaf’s first Programme for Government, published in September, said: “We have a moral duty to respond to the climate and nature crises.” It added: “Loss of species and degradation of ecosystems and habitats pose real risks to Scotland’s nature on which our future wellbeing depends.”

But fine words butter no parsnips. We need government decisions to be nature positive.

Indeed, last year’s citizens assembly, resulting in the People’s Plan for Nature, concluded: “All central and devolved governments should consider how to include the future of nature in all national and local policy and decision-making.”

If the Scottish Government wants to enable more offshore wind to happen it must also help seabirds recover as soon as possible. It needs to urgently:

• Close Scottish waters to industrial sandeel fishing, and take wider action to protect seabird prey species;

• Introduce effective measures to eliminate and monitor seabird deaths from bycatch – the unintended trapping of them in fishing lines and nets – that is estimated to kill thousands of seabirds across Scottish waters each year;

• Deliver a rolling programme of island restoration, an effective biosecurity legacy;

• Protect the most important places for seabirds on land and at sea, through much improved protection measures, monitoring and management; and

• Develop a comprehensive national response plan to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, outlining its major threat to wildlife.

We have written to the First Minister outlining these actions and continue to await his response with interest.

Even with these measures, Berwick Bank is still poorly located. The licensing decision will be analysed carefully, and not just by RSPB Scotland. The Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick and National Trust for Scotland who look after the St Abb’s Head National Nature Reserve share our concerns. In addition, NatureScot, the Government’s statutory nature conservation body, have objected to the development, raising concerns about its predicted impacts to seabirds and the proposed compensation measures.  

By law, developers must show that there are no alternatives that would cause less damage. We don’t believe SSE Renewables have done that. 

If Scottish Ministers want to live up to their own rhetoric, follow the science, and respect the wishes of the public, they should do much more to ensure that offshore wind only happens alongside the recovery of Scotland’s seabirds. They should say no thanks to Berwick Bank.

Main image: Kittiwake in flight, by Paul Turner