The Wind Energy Bird and Bat Monitoring Database is a joint initiative of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CANWEA), Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS, Environment Canada), Birds Canada (BSC) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR). The goals of this project are to facilitate improved understanding of the impacts of wind turbines on birds and bats, allow for greater consistency in assessment of wind power impacts across the country, and lead to future improvements in the Environmental Assessment and approval processes. The database is designed to allow individual industry proponents (and individuals or consultants working on their behalf) to enter field data derived from bird and bat population monitoring projects in a confidential environment, while providing the ability to analyse the data and create summaries for the public on the website. Results from such analyses will be used to inform future wind power developments, and to improve the EA and approval processes, particularly by streamlining data collection requirements.

Data submitted on this site remains the property of the person or organizations submitting them, and will be treated confidentially. The data from this database can only be accessed by authorized users, which include those collecting data on birds and bats using the recommended guidelines (for the purpose of accessing their own data only) and selected representatives from BSC, CANWEA, CWS and OMNRF.

As the site develops, proponents will be encouraged to make their data available for the purpose of generating data summaries on this site, including for example summary tables, maps and figures, with the objective of informing the public about the potential impact of wind energy activities.

Proponents wishing to submit data into this database should contact Catherine Jardine at cjardine@birdscanada.org