Israel abandoned the infrastructure project for the sake of a rare Central Asian bird
The Israeli authorities have refused to construct nine wind turbines in the vicinity of the agricultural community of Ain Hashofet in the north of the country due to the environmental vulnerability of the area, Haaretz reports.
It is home for one of the rarest birds of the falcon family - the steppe kestrel (Falco naumanni).
The bright red lesser kestrel, sometimes called the red falcon, breeds in southern Europe, Asia and North Africa. In Central Asia, it can be found in Kopetdag Mountains at an altitude of up to 2,200 meters, in Tajikistan - at an altitude of 1300-1500 meters and in Kazakhstan.
For the wintering of red falcon migrates to South Asia and Africa. However, the range of its nesting in recent decades has declined significantly, due to human economic activity, contamination of fields with insecticides and pesticides and a shortage of food.
Although the site to the south of the kibbutz Ain Hashofet, allocated for turbines, is not officially a nature reserve, but has the status of an ecologically sensitive zone recognized by UNESCO.
The Israeli Society for the Protection of Nature believes the construction of windmills will cause unjustified and irreparable ornithological damage. In fact, the rotating blades of turbines with a height of almost 165 meters can destroy the Falco naumanni population. The district committee has agreed to this argument and decided to abandon the infrastructure project.
According to the statistics of the Smithsonian Institute, USA, the world mortality rate of birds from flying into wind turbines varies from 140 000 to 328 000 birds per year.
