Good practices
Good practices

Report

NID4BIRDLIFE State of the Art Report

Report

Topic

Bird Protection

Dimension

Energy & Nature

Nature-Inclusive Design (NID) offers a key opportunity to ensure that offshore renewable infrastructure contributes positively to nature while fulfilling financial and energy objectives. While NID has been explored mainly in relation to underwater habitats, its potential to benefit seabirds and other avian species, for instance by providing safe nesting and resting opportunities, remains largely unexplored. Given the significant expansion of offshore energy projects planned by 2030 and beyond, the coming years represent a critical window to develop, test and implement NID measures for seabirds and to generate lessons that can guide their wider application and scaling in the future.

In this context, the NID4BirdLIFE project was launched in 2024, which aimed to help reverse the sharp decline of Black-legged Kittiwakes by installing NID solutions on the walls of the Princess Elisabeth Energy Island (PEI) in the Belgian North Sea, creating suitable nesting sites and fostering a stable breeding colony. Moreover, a further goal of the project was to collect, analyse, and monitor the different approaches, perspectives, and experiences of various stakeholders regarding NID for birds. A central pillar of this effort was also to create opportunities for mutual learning and collaboration among experts from diverse sectors including Transmission System Operators (TSO), wind developers, NGOs, research institutes, consultancies and service providers

In line with those objectives, in 2025, RGI organised a series of activities to engage with key actors and gather their perspectives, including a dedicated survey, a series of online interviews and an in-person workshop. Specifically, a workshop, held on 18 November in Brussels, provided a platform to discuss opportunities and challenges and to co-create principles that can guide the future roll-out of NID for birds. This report summarises the main challenges and potential solutions identified by stakeholders during all these activities and sets out proposed principles to support more effective implementation in future projects.

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State-of-the-Art-Report_NID4BIRDLIFE.pdf

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contact

Manon Thiel

Manager – Energy and Nature

Manon Thiel

Manager – Energy and Nature

t: +49 30 2332 11034
Manon joined RGI in 2022. She is currently working as a Manager in the Energy and Nature team and is in charge of the SafeLines4Birds project. Prior to RGI, Manon worked as an ecologist in a consulting office in Berlin, engaged in the protection of bat populations in Europe in the context of onshore wind energy projects. She also worked on diverse projects in Africa, particularly in the protection and conservation of African mammals. Manon holds a Master’s degree in Biodiversity conservation from Université de Perpignan in France and completed her Master’s thesis in South Africa.

Dení Aguilar Bellamy

Coordinator – Offshore Energy and Nature

Dení Aguilar Bellamy

Coordinator – Offshore Energy and Nature

t: +49 30 2332 11029
Dení joined the Renewables Grid Initiative in 2018. She is currently coordinating the work of the ‘Offshore Energy and Nature’ team, and previously was responsible for RGI’s Business Plan and fundraising strategies. Prior to RGI, Deni worked as a consultant, managing and implementing international projects between the EU, Asia-Pacific and Latin-America in diverse sectors. She studied Sociology and Political Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and La Trobe University in Australia, and she holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Xiamen University in China.

Manon Thiel

Manager – Energy and Nature

Manon Thiel

Manager – Energy and Nature

t: +49 30 2332 11034
Manon joined RGI in 2022. She is currently working as a Manager in the Energy and Nature team and is in charge of the SafeLines4Birds project. Prior to RGI, Manon worked as an ecologist in a consulting office in Berlin, engaged in the protection of bat populations in Europe in the context of onshore wind energy projects. She also worked on diverse projects in Africa, particularly in the protection and conservation of African mammals. Manon holds a Master’s degree in Biodiversity conservation from Université de Perpignan in France and completed her Master’s thesis in South Africa.

Dení Aguilar Bellamy

Coordinator – Offshore Energy and Nature

Dení Aguilar Bellamy

Coordinator – Offshore Energy and Nature

t: +49 30 2332 11029
Dení joined the Renewables Grid Initiative in 2018. She is currently coordinating the work of the ‘Offshore Energy and Nature’ team, and previously was responsible for RGI’s Business Plan and fundraising strategies. Prior to RGI, Deni worked as a consultant, managing and implementing international projects between the EU, Asia-Pacific and Latin-America in diverse sectors. She studied Sociology and Political Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and La Trobe University in Australia, and she holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Xiamen University in China.