Plants

At first glance the hills and valleys of the proposed Viking Energy seem barren and bare. However if you actually look, and visit the area, you will be amazed at the diversity of the plant life.

Dwarf willow

(Salix herbacea)

Technically a shrub. In Shetland the dwarf willow grows only a few inches high at most. A plant normally found over 600m in Artic and sub-artic Europe, but found within the proposed wind farm site at about 200m

Dwarf Willow photographed at Scallafield, Shetland.

Image by Phil Smith

Dwarf Willow photographed at Scallafield, Shetland.

Image by Phil Smith

This site...

Sustainable Shetland is a campaign group formed in March 2008 in response to a proposal for a large scale wind farm in Shetland. We believe these large industrial projects are damaging to our environment. We believe that the Viking Energy wind farm endangers Shetland Community Funds, project costs are underestimated and project income grossly over stated.

We believe that the Viking Energy proposals are everything we do not need in Shetland: they are financially risky and potentially damaging to the Shetland environment.

We want to see sustainable renewable energy projects in Shetland which are fit for scale and fit for purpose, and provide real community benefit.

We are not an "anti windfarm" campaign. However we are strongly opposed to the Viking wind farm proposal. Other projects will be considered on their own merits.