Increase Biodiversity

As pioneers in community renewable energy, the Westmill organisations are keen to highlight the added benefits that renewable energy can have outside of generating clean electricity. Consequently, biodiversity is a key aspect of the Westmill site. As an organic farmer, our landowner, Adam Twine, understands the importance of managing our land in ways that benefit local wildlife, as well as generating electricity. Westmill Solar, in particular, was designed with biodiversity in mind and current land management practices help to encourage a large variety of different wildlife on site.

Bee on an Ox Eye Daisy at Westmill. Credit: David Butler

Concerns have been raised about how much land in Britain would be needed for solar, along with linked issues about impacts on biodiversity and food security. The above video summarises the key points related to solar power, farming and nature.

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity relates to all living things across the Earth, but also refers to the number of different types of organisms that live in a certain area. In the case of Westmill Energy, this is broadly focused on the plants and animals that live on the site. However, it is equally important to think about the number of different bacteria species present in the soil or the types of fungus that are growing in the shade of the panels.

All organisms rely on a complex web of interacting ecosystems to survive. When land is managed sustainably, we can create an environment in which organisms can thrive. At Westmill Energy, we understand that the benefits which come from biodiversity are just as important as those that come from renewable energy generation and are taking steps to increase the biodiversity on site.

How is Biodiversity Promoted?

When the Westmill Solar site was being developed, the landowner, Adam Twine, wanted there to be a focus on biodiversity. Adam, who farms the Westmill site, has been an organic farmer for over 30 years. In organic farming, biodiversity is protected by reducing, or eliminating, the use of pesticides and herbicides on crops and instead relies on more traditional growing practices. Although the land immediately surrounding the solar site is not organic, this appreciation of the importance of biodiversity influenced the decisions that Adam made about the future of the site while part of the development team.

In a natural environment, a large disturbance, such as clearing land, would be re-seeded naturally by the plants surrounding the land which has been disturbed. This would previously have been a wide variety of wind-spread plants, but in our modern environment there are fewer types of plants available to re-seed areas. If we want to have a wide variety of plants on site now, we need to lend nature a helping hand.

Ox Eye Daisies in front of solar panels at Westmill. Credit: David Butler.

After the solar farm was built, the land was seeded with a mixture made-up of local plant types. This encouraged a wider variety of plants to establish on the bare ground than might have been present otherwise, setting the site off on the right path to developing a healthy ecosystem. Regular grazing by sheep and the removal of non-beneficial plants from the area has helped to preserve the plant biodiversity on site.

How Does Grazing Sheep Increase Biodiversity?

The panels at Westmill Solar were specifically chosen with sheep grazing in mind. This means that the land between the panels is able to support a herd of sheep without concerns about the animals damaging the panels.

For the past four years, there has been a herd of around 40 Cotswold and Lincoln sheep grazing the Westmill Solar site. These sheep are bigger than other commercial varieties of sheep and are native to the Westmill area. Shepherdess Vera Hoenen was originally concerned that the sheep would cause damage to the panels. However, she now understands how sturdy the panels are and so has been able to scale back the protections that she had implemented to protect the panels.

Vera says that the sheep benefit both from being able to use the panels for shelter from the elements and from the wide variety of plants that grow within the solar farm. Although the sheep have a preference for Hogweed, which is found in the site, the wide range of plants available allows them to gain weight more effectively. Additionally, for some of the older sheep in Vera’s herd, different plant species are easier for them to graze on to reduce the impact to their jaws and teeth.

While it might seem that grazing would reduce the diversity of plants at Westmill, it is widely believed that intermediate disturbance (i.e. impacts on species such as predation or fire) leads to an increase in biodiversity. This is because the plant species are all subject to the same impact and no single species benefits from it. By eating a wide range of plants in the solar park, the sheep prevent any one plant from taking over. Additionally, the sheep help to reduce the number of plant species which are not beneficial to the ecosystem, thus aiding the manual work that is done when managing the land.

To ensure no negative impact to biodiversity, the sheep graze in the solar park during the winter when they will not disturb nesting birds. Additionally, the plant species which pollinating insects rely on are not flowering in winter, which prevents the sheep from impacting upon their food source.

marbled white butterfly. credit: Hollie Blaydes

Photo credit: Hollie Blaydes

Photo credit: David Butler

Biodiversity at Westmill

Plant variety is key to biodiversity. Healthy soil needs a range of different plants present to keep sustainable levels of nutrients. Different plants will encourage different bacteria and fungi to live in the soil and these will then help the plants to grow.

When there is more diversity of plants, this also leads to more variety of insect life. Insects are a key part of the ecosystem, both in pollinating plants and as food for other animals. Pollinators at the Westmill site have been of particular interest to researchers and there have been many studies completed on the site to learn more about the insects which are present.

A large number of bird species can also be found at Westmill, and extensive bird studies have been carried out to learn more about the species that nest on site.

To learn more about some of the biodiversity studies completed at Westmill, visit our Work with Researchers page.

Download Our Bird Survey Report