BIODIVERSITY ENHANCEMENT
Our goal is to lead the renewables industry in best practice when it comes to enhancing ecology and biodiversity at our solar and wind farms.
Nature under threat
In Britain, wildflower meadows have decreased by 97% since the 1930s thanks to intensive farming practices. The decline in pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, has an economic as well as environmental impact – according to the government, pollinators are thought to be worth around £400m a year to the UK economy.
SOLAR WILDLIFE HABITATS
A well-managed solar farm can become a nature reserve for its operational lifetime, resulting in huge benefits for wildlife and biodiversity. Their ecological value is recognised by organisations such as the National Trust, the RSPB, Friends of the Earth and the Bumblebee Trust. While a minimum Biodiversity Net Gain of 10% became mandatory in 2024, our solar farms usually deliver much more than this.
Eden was a major contributor to Solar Energy UK’s ‘Natural Capital Best Practice Guidance’ published in May 2022. The guidance shows how well-managed solar projects enable wildflowers, pollinators and other wildlife to thrive, contributing thousands of acres of high biodiversity habitats, providing benefits for people who live nearby.
PEAT RESTORATION AT WIND FARMS
Peat is an important ‘carbon sink’ and Scotland’s peatlands store the equivalent of 140 years’ of current annual greenhouse gas emissions. While they have been degraded in recent years due to historic land management practices and demand from gardeners, wind farms offer great opportunities for peat restoration, helping sequester carbon and boost local biodiversity. Eden is undertaking a comprehensive blanket bog restoration at Bettyhill Windfarm in north Scotland.
“Solar farms could be a real asset in our countryside by giving declining wildlife like bees and farmland birds a home.”
Each of our renewable projects is designed with a bespoke, progressive ecological and land management plan to create wildlife havens, encouraging bees, butterflies, bats and birds, etc. As well as employing professional, highly qualified ecologists, we often also work with the local Wildlife Trusts.
This aspect of our projects is overseen by Dr. Guy Parker (Wychwood Biodiversity), who is a leader in the field of biodiversity management within solar farms and co-authored the national guidance.
Our solar farms include the following ecological measures:
The area beneath and around the solar panels is seeded with local, native wildflower and wild grasses to create a haven for wildlife, which develops naturally over time. The land is managed as a wildflower meadow in spring and summer, then grazed by sheep in autumn and winter.
The wide grass margins at the edge of the site are managed to produce tussocky grassland which is ideal for ground nesting birds, small mammals, reptiles and bumblebees.
Ponds or clay-lined scrapes may be created to provide habitat for aquatic invertebrates.
Hibernacula provide refuges for amphibians and reptiles to hibernate over winter.
Bird and bat boxes around the perimeter of the site.
Gaps are left at intervals along the fenceline to provide access for foraging hedgehogs and badgers.
Sites for beehives are identified for both solitary and honey bees. If you are interested in keeping beehives at one of our sites please get in contact.
MAINteNANCE & MONITORING
Wychwood monitors the biodiversity at each site on an annual basis, including botany, breeding birds and invertebrates, to track improvements and provide an independent check on our ecological management.
View our biodiversity image galleries from 2018 and 2019.
The Eden team has successfully established wildlife habitats at the majority of its previous solar farms, completed in 2015/16. Annual ecological surveys consistently show a greater abundance of wild flowers and grasses, resulting in increased numbers and varieties of species of bumblebees and breeding birds at most sites.
At one solar farm in South Devon, the land has been managed to encourage wild breeding birds, resulting in two sightings of a rare endangered bird species, the Cirl Bunting, which is only found in a very small area in the UK. We’ve also observed a 40-fold increase in butterflies!
Lancaster University and the University of York are working on measuring biodiversity impact through the SPIES project, explained in this short animation. And the University of Lancaster Environment Centre showcases the science behind how land used for renewable energy generation can also support biodiversity and farming in this film.
“Projects such as these could lead to self-sustaining nature reserves, which would be a huge boost to wildlife, the local environment and the local community. Obviously this is also a green source of renewable energy which will supply hundreds of local homes. This is a big win for everyone in the area. This site can be developed as a shining example of how you can turn a basic, unremarkable grassland site into an improved site and newt haven.”