Best practice begins with thorough ecological surveys across all seasons in the early planning phase of the project to understand local bird and bat populations.

The mitigation hierarchy emphasises avoidance strategies first. Where possible, developers should avoid siting infrastructure in critical habitat areas and flyways. Minimising impacts to wildlife during construction and operation or mitigating impact through behavioural or habitat modification, or technological interventions — should be last resorts.

Collaborative planning practices that integrate design and environmental team early can help resolve siting challenges early.

Emerging solutions are continually improving mitigation strategies. These include smart curtailment algorithms, behavioural and habitat modification techniques (drawing from aviation bird safety practices), eDNA and scent dog detection for bat presence and the use of drones for more efficient and comprehensive surveys. AI-assisted species recognition and collision prediction are also promising tools that are expected to improve over time. The use of these strategies still varies widely from site to site, but operators who embrace emerging innovations and continuous improvement can elevate their wildlife conservation efforts.

Despite the technological advancements, significant knowledge gaps remain, including long-term data on bird and bat presence and movement and the cumulative regional impacts of windfarms on local wildlife. Operators who are willing to engage collaboratively with researchers have a huge opportunity to provide baseline data which will improve the efficiency of future wind energy developments.

Best practice is also hindered by the absence of standardised national guidelines for collision risk assessments. Addressing these gaps will require focused collaborative efforts between wind farm operators, regulators and researchers.