Legal Framework of Wildlife Protection on the Area of Natura 2000 (Emerald Network) on Wind Energy Site: Case of Ukraine

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive overview of European law and Ukrainian national law in the field of wildlife protection on special conservation areas on wind farm siting. In the first part, the EU law on renewable energy and some national regulations of the EU countries was examined. The focus was on legal regulation of impact of wind farms special on nature in Natura 2000 sites. In addition, attention was paid to procedural steps that must be applied to plans and projects that are likely to have a significant effect on a Natura 2000 site. The second part of the paper discusses legal issues of wildlife protection on the area of Emerald Network (Natura 2000) on wind energy sites according to the Ukrainian national law. The author argues that Ukraine has various laws which regulate wind farm siting with requiring the environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment as a legal instrument of wildlife protection. Further, specific environmental wildlife protection laws in Ukraine were indicated, which prohibit economic activities in special protected areas. Wildlife protection in wind farm sites in Polonyna Borzhava (Emerald Network) was also discussed in more detail.

Keywords

• wildlife protection
• wind farm
• natura 2000 sites
• emerald network
• ukraine