RHEBOKSFONTEIN-AURORA POWER LINE ALTERNATIVES 1A-E Avian Basic Assessment Re-revised Prepared for: Prepared by: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study contains a brief review of recent literature on power line impacts on avifauna, and identifies potential impacts associated with five alternative 132 kV power lines proposed for the Rheboksfontein wind farm near Darling, Western Cape. The possible impacts are: (i) minimal aerial-habitat alteration by the power lines themselves (due to existing lines along most of the planned routes) and their associated substations, (ii) disturbance by construction and maintenance activities, (iii) possible displacement or disturbance of sensitive species; and most critical (iv) direct collision with the power line network. Electrocution of avifauna is a lesser problem for all but the largest species on the power line infrastructure. The impact zone of the five alternative power line routes (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E) lies within the Swartland Shale Renosterveld and Swartland Renosterveld vegetation zones. Up-to-date bird atlas data from the region indicates that habitat around the northern option supports up to 157 bird species, including 11 threatened (red-listed) species, and 16 collision-prone species ranked in the top 100 species. Flocks of flamingos numbering over a thousand birds were present in this area. Avian mortality was common under the present lines and 11 birds were found dead under seven spans adjacent to the largest pan. These included red-listed Blue Cranes, red- listed Flamingos and geese and ibises. Thus the southern end of this line is designated a very high risk area and a no-go area for further lines. Route 1D avoids these areas and is the only viable alternative of the five proposed. The avian groups of greatest conservation significance likely to be impacted by the power lines include the flocking waterbirds such as flamingos, white-faced ducks and the collision-prone Blue Cranes Anthropoides paradiseus which were recorded commonly in the northern area. Resident raptors such as Black Harrier Circus maurus (red-listed), Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus (red-listed), Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus (red-listed), and Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus may be at some risk, but the eagle and kite were observed using the existing structures for perching. Our observations shows more red-listed wetland birds (flamingos and cranes) are at risk at the dams and pans in the southern section and some threatened endemic species found in the pristine Hopefield vegetation may be displaced (breeding Black Harriers). To mitigate the possible problems raised above we recommend that: (i) option 1D that avoids all farm dams and pans (i.e. >700m distance) to reduce mortality to red-listed species is the only viable option. Ideally it should also avoid Black Harrier breeding areas in the north; (ii) all existing and future power lines around the dams should be marked with diurnal and nocturnal bird diverters as a matter of priority to reduce the ongoing mortality of red- listed species. CONSULTANT’S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE Dr Rob Simmons is an independent consultant hired by Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd. I have no business, financial, personal or other interest in the activity, application or appeal in respect of which I was appointed other than fair remuneration for work performed in connection with the activity, application or appeal. There are no circumstances that compromise the objectivity of this specialist performing such work. Dr Rob Simmons of Birds & Bats Unlimited was approached to undertake the specialist avifaunal assessment for the alternative power line routes from the new proposed wind farm Rheboksfontein, near Darling Western Cape. He is an experienced ornithologist, with 30 years’ experience in avian research and impact assessment work. More than twenty avian impact assessments have been undertaken throughout Namibia and South Africa. He independently undertakes research on threatened species (raptors, flamingos and terns) at the FitzPatrick Institute, UCT. I was assisted by Marlei Martins, my business partner at Birds Unlimited, who has 4 years’ consultancy experience in avian wind farm, and solar farm impacts, as well as environmental issues. Further details are provided at: http://www.birds-and-bats-unlimited.com 1. INTRODUCTION Savannah Environmental has been commissioned to determine the impacts of five alternative power line routes that run from a wind energy facility (WEF) planned by Moyeng Energy at Rheboksfontein in the Darling area of the Western Cape. They have appointed Birds & Bats Unlimited to conduct the specialist avifaunal assessment. This report is a Basic Assessment that reviews the bird species present from bird atlas records, reports on those species most at risk from collision, avoidance and electrocution of the power lines and substations. Two brief (2 day) site visits allowed us to record numbers of birds along sensitive sections of the three proposed power line routes, particularly those associated with wetlands and possible flyways. We were also asked to investigate the possible impacts and suggest ways to mitigate them wherever feasible. This allows us to choose between five alternative routes from the WEF at Rheboksfontein, north towards Hopefield, to reduce impacts to the avian community to a minimum. 2. Terms of reference The terms of reference for the Basic Assessment as provided by Savannah were as follows: To provide a basic avifaunal assessment comparing the proposed northern and southern options for power lines from the planned Moyeng Energy wind energy facility at Darling (first phase). In February 2015, following consultation with Eskom, we were asked to consider only the northern option and two alternatives within that. In July 2015 were asked to consider a further option (1C), and in October 2015 two more options (1D and 1E). To provide a quantitative assessment of both power lines before and after mitigation. 3. STUDY METHODOLOGY 3.1. Approach This Basic Assessment study included the following steps: A review of available published and unpublished literature pertaining to bird interactions with power lines (and where appropriate, wind farms); this summarises the issues involved and the current level of knowledge in this field. Various data sources were examined including details of the avifauna of the area and previous studies of bird interactions with electrical infrastructures associated with them. A list of the avifauna likely to occur along the length of both power lines was compiled using a combination of the most recent (2007-2013) distributional data from bird atlas data followed by two 2-day site visits in July 2013 and July-August 2015 to sections of all proposed lines (1A, 1B, 1C). A short-list of priority bird species (defined in terms of conservation status and collision- prone ranking) which may be impacted by the power lines was extracted from the bird list. These species are considered the most important and mitigating the impacts for them should accommodate any less important bird species that may be affected. All lines are put in context of the BARESG (Birds and Renewable Energy Specialist Group) sensitivity map of the western Cape taken from (http://www.birdlife.org.za/ conservation/birds-and-wind-energy/windmap/325-windmap documentation). A summary of possible impacts of the power lines heading north and south on the local avifauna was drawn up, using a Ranking as follows: the Nature and Extent (E), Duration (D), Magnitude (M), Probability of Occurrence (P), and Significance(S) Hence S = (E + D + M)P. 3.2 Data sources used The following data sources and reports were used in the compilation of this report: Information on the biology (Hockey et al 2005), Pentad Cards Notes distribution (Harrison et al. 1997) and 3320_1815 20 WEF area conservation status (Barnes 2000) of southern 3315_1815 12 Northern line African birds was consulted. Up to date data 3310_1815 2 Northern line were extracted from the Southern African Bird 3305_1810 2 Northern line Atlas Projects (SABAP), which were obtained 3300_1810 4 Hopefield from the Animal Demography Unit website (http://sabap2.adu.org.za/index.php) for the TOTAL 40 Northern line relevant “pentads” of 5’ x 5’ from (SABAP 2: shown below). From these data we compiled a list of the avifauna likely to occur within the impact zone of the proposed power lines. These data were combined, with our 2-day visits to the area in July 2013 and July-August 2015. Conservation status and collision-prone ranking of all species considered likely to occur in the area was determined from the South African Red-list for birds and its updates (Barnes 2000, Taylor et al. 2015), and the ranking of collision-prone birds drawn from the BARESG tabulation. Co 3.3 Limitations & assumptions Inaccuracies in the above sources of information can limit this study. The SABAP1 data for this area is over 20 years old (Harrison et al. 1997), so we have used only the new SABAP 2 data set. This has a higher spatial resolution specific to the power lines and is up to date (2007 to 2015). Two 2-day site visits are insufficient to cover all areas, so we sub-sampled the lines. This may miss certain areas of importance that a longer visit would cover. We assume that our findings from site visits in the winters of 2013 and 2015 are indicative of bird movements and mortality at other times of year; summer visits were not undertaken. 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 Interactions between power lines and birds Causes of collision The identity of the species present in the area is also very important as some birds are more vulnerable to collision with power lines than others, and feature disproportionately in collision surveys (Drewitt & Langston 2006, 2008, de Lucas et al. 2008). Species-specific variation in behaviour, such as foraging, commuting or courting, also affect susceptibility to collision (Barrios & Rodríguez 2004, Smallwood et al.