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No flying.. you'll scare all the birds |
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Sunday, 30 April 2006 |
No flying... you'll scare all the birds
It was supposed to be a celebration of British engineering and
eccentricity, with inventors attempting to take to the skies in all
manner of contraptions.
But a contest to see who could fly furthest across the Firth of Forth
without the power of an engine has been grounded - by birds.
As many as 50,000 people were expected to gather at Dalmeny House to
watch around 30 teams take up the challenge of the Red Bull Flugtag.
But the organisers had not counted on the flocks of redshanks, dunlin,
plover and other birds which make the estuary their home.
Scottish Natural Heritage has warned that construction work associated
with the competition was likely to disturb the birds and damage their
habitat.
Of concern to heritage chiefs was the need to dredge a stretch of the
riverbed near the stately home to ensure contestants did not injure
themselves by plunging into too shallow waters.
The riverbed would also have had to be disturbed to build a six-metre
runway jutting out into the Forth. There were also concerns about the
effects of the noise likely to be generated by the large crowds of
spectators.
Event organiser Red Bull has decided to call off this summer's event
and try to reorganise it for next year, once it has had a chance to
find a way of preparing the area without harming the birds.
A spokeswoman for the drinks firm said: "We have recently discovered
that the location is already home to indigenous migratory birds, and
the event construction may disturb their natural habit.
"Until we can be assured that the event would have minimal impact to
the environment and wildlife in this area, we will be postponing the
event until 2007.
"We received some truly inspiring entries, and we are looking forward
to seeing the creativity and fun of the entries come to life at Red
Bull Flugtag in 2007."
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) raised concerns about the event with SNH.
An RSPB spokesman said: "Conservation groups like the RSPB would not
like to be seen as killjoys for an event like this, but this site has
been designated a Special Protection Area and is quite fragile and
extremely important.
"We understand that the process needed for this event would involve
digging out the sand and the mud and could disturb the wading birds'
feeding ground, and that is why we are concerned about it.
"SNH are concerned that any extraction of the habitat that they need to
feed on would potentially be quite damaging and they want to
investigate further before giving it the go-ahead for next year."
In the Flugtag, teams famously try to outdo each other with their
spectacular entries, which in the past have included a pregnant cow, a
pink Cadillac and a flying model of Miss Piggy from the Muppet Show.
Thirty teams from all over the country were set to take part in the
event, with participants given just 30 seconds on the runway to stage a
"performance" before attempting a take-off - with only human power
allowed to propel the inventions into the air over the water.
The Flugtag event has been held all over the world since its launch in
Austria in 1991, attracting crowds of more than 300,000. But it has
only once before been staged in the UK, in London's Hyde Park in 2003.
A spokesman for Scottish Natural Heritage said: "The area is a Special
Protection Area (under the EU Wild Birds Directive) for waders and
wildfowl.
"Any likely impact on the birds, or their habitat and feeding areas,
therefore has to be assessed and if necessary addressed through
modification of the works involved.
"We have been talking to the organisers about possible modifications to
this event to enable it to go ahead without adversely affecting the
birds. We'd be keen to continue talks in relation to next year's event." |
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