PrePARED Project

Predators and Prey Around Renewable Energy Developments [PrePARED] Project

Offshore wind development is a critical part of the UK government’s approach to tackling the climate crisis and addressing energy security. This priority sits alongside the urgent need to halt and reverse the decline in marine biodiversity and enable nature’s recovery.

There is a critical knowledge gap in better understanding the magnitude of the environmental impacts of offshore wind development on protected seabird and marine mammal populations.

The PrePARED project is studying predator (seabird and marine mammals) and prey (fish) distribution in and around offshore wind development at the same spatial and temporal scales. This will establish a robust evidence base in understanding how marine predators and their prey respond to offshore wind development and increase certainty on the magnitude of the impact, facilitating deployment of offshore wind farms at the required pace and scale.

PrePARED is a collaborative project funded by the Offshore Wind Evidence & Change programme and Crown Estate Scotland, working with a team of experts from government, academia, nature conservation agencies and industry and will address critical knowledge gaps that currently are barriers to sustainable offshore wind development.

Along with Professor Mark Reed of Fast Track Impact, the Institute for Methods Innovation team is identifying key project stakeholders, analysing stakeholder networks, and informing the development of an effective communication plan for the dissemination and impact of the project results.

For more information, visit the official website.