Special species protection assessment (saP) for PV parks in Germany

Species protection assessment (saP) for PV parks in Germany: sound survey and assessment of protected species under § 44 BNatSchG.

We support you with sound surveys and professional assessment of all species relevant to planning, in line with the requirements of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (§ 44 BNatSchG). Our saP services identify possible conflicts with strictly or specially protected species and show practical solutions. The result is technically sound and robust.

The special species protection assessment (saP) examines whether a project triggers prohibitions for protected species. Under § 44 BNatSchG, it is prohibited to injure or kill specially protected animals, to significantly disturb strictly protected species and European bird species during the breeding, rearing, moulting, hibernation and migration periods, to damage or destroy breeding and resting sites, and to harm specially protected plants and their locations. A disturbance is considered significant if the conservation status of the local population deteriorates. For the prohibition on killing, a special rule applies to approved projects, which focuses on the risk caused by the project and on technically recognised protection measures. It concerns species of Annex IV of the Habitats Directive and European bird species. For other specially protected species, an act carried out to implement an intervention does not violate the prohibitions.

For interventions permitted under § 15 BNatSchG and for certain construction projects under § 18 (2) BNatSchG, the prohibitions apply only as provided in § 44 (5) BNatSchG. Decisive, among other things, is that the ecological function of the affected breeding and resting sites is maintained in the spatial context, for which advance compensation measures are specified where needed. The saP therefore shows which measures avoid conflicts. For PV parks, the focus is above all on land use and the habitat on and beside the plant, for example for ground-nesting birds such as the skylark. Compensation measures required and their scope are determined in the individual case on the basis of the species affected, for example skylark or quail, the effect of the project and the requirements of the authorities; compensation areas for ground-nesting birds, where they are specified as an advance measure, must be effective before the intervention, and construction times can be restricted. Faunistic surveys before construction provide the data basis for these stipulations. Specified measures are usually described in a development and management concept that is available to the authority before construction starts; whether monitoring reports, photo documentation and multi-year checks are required follows from the permit notice and the measures concept. It is therefore worthwhile to consider the saP already when choosing the site.

You can rely on our know-how in species protection, mapping and expert report preparation. This makes permitting procedures efficient and your projects compatible with nature. Our team of 9 biologists covers amphibians, insects, reptiles, botany, birds and bats. In general terms, the page on detailed nature conservation surveys for PV parks explains which topics are in the foreground for solar plants. The expert report for the procedure is provided by the nature conservation specialist contribution for PV plants; the environmental construction supervision for solar parks accompanies the implementation of the measures on site. The variant for wind power can be found under saP for wind power in Germany.