Lancaster University researchers have helped to develop a new standard approach to assess how farms affect biodiversity.
Lancaster University researchers have helped to develop a new standard approach to assess how farms affect biodiversity.
Dr Fabio Carvalho, a postdoctoral researcher and Dr Alona Armstrong, Senior Lecturer in Energy and Environmental Sciences, both in the Lancaster Environment Centre, worked with two ecological consultancies to develop an assessment protocol that is underpinned by academic research but widely implementable by industry.
Hundreds of solar farms around the UK are already being proactively managed to promote wildlife but until now there was no way to consider the sector’s overall impacts and benefits to the natural environment, as monitoring approaches vary too greatly.
Putting the new approach into action will be increasingly important as more large-scale solar installations are built to help fulfil the nation’s demand for clean power and meet climate change commitments.
Read more at: Lancaster University
Dr Fabio Carvalho (Photo Credit: Lancaster University)
