Source: Foresight Group

Small changes can make a significant and almost immediate difference to a solar farm’s impact on nature, according to a new report by Foresight Group.

The report seeks to provide investors, asset managers, developers and operators with the blueprint needed to integrate nature-positive processes. It begins with baselining procedures and goes on to provide recommendations on management and intervention strategies. As part of this, Foresight has identified the different types of habitats associated with solar sites, and outlined management techniques specific to each.

The report states: “Slight changes to management practices and behaviours, or direct cost-effective interventions, can have positive impacts on biodiversity within an astonishingly small-time frame. Wildflower meadows can take only 12 weeks to flower from sowing, while a no mow regime in the summer months will give a biodiversity return in a matter of weeks.”

Foresight Group’s infrastructure business manages £9.5 billion (€11.1. billion; $11.9 billion), according to its latest annual report. It is in the market with Foresight Core European Renewables, which has a €1 billion target, and Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners II, a core-plus product seeking to raise €1.25 billion, affiliate title Infrastructure Investor‘s database shows.