A TYPE of bird classed as 'near threatened' could become extinct in Wales if more major energy projects such as solar farms are created, an environmental group has warned.

The Friends of the Gwent Levels has warned lapwings - previously a common sight on farmland and wetlands - are being put at risk by development.

Since 1960 the number of lapwings recorded in Wales and England has dropped by 80 per cent, and the bird is now classed as 'near threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

"Lapwings are in massive and potentially catastrophic decline," said Catherine Linstrum of the Friends of The Gwent Levels. "They are ground-nesting birds, so a solar farm is a no-no for them.

She continued: "If you take away the habitat for rare ground-nesting birds then they simply cannot produce any more young."

The report for the Gwent Farmers' Community Solar Partnership Ltd states that grassland beneath the solar panels in Gwent Levels, will be maintained to provide breeding and foraging habitats for invertebrates and birds.

But the report produced this year has found that lapwings are in decline in the area around the development.

It states: "Lapwing was present again on retained fields but has continued to decline in numbers."

Gwent Wildlife Trust is calling for a halt to significant developments until better protections are in place.

"We have already seen the damage caused by the existing solar plant on the Gwent Levels, where a hugely important lapwing breeding site was destroyed," said Adam Taylor, chief executive of the Gwent Wildlife Trust.

"This exquisitely beautiful bird was once a common site in our skies but is now a conservation red-listed species."

The Welsh Government recently refused the development of two solar farms on the Gwent Levels over biodiversity concerns.

The flat coastal area is home to numerous species including many endangered birds.

Creatures protected under UK and European are also found there.

A spokesperson from the Welsh Government said: "Planning Policy Wales sets out an approach for developers to follow and makes clear they should seek to avoid impacts on biodiversity and, where this is not possible, seek to enhance, improve and protect wider habitat networks so there is a net benefit for biodiversity.”

Activists say they are not against solar farms, but want them to be located in areas which will not put birds at risk.

Mr Taylor said: "We need to stress that we are not opposed to solar energy, simply that such developments need to be located on land where they will not irretrievably damage a nationally important and designated landscape, teeming with wildlife."