Launch of Building Better Biodiversity On Solar Farms: A regenerative guide to nature-positive solar farming

The Building Better Biodiversity on Solar Farms Guide presents innovative strategies and tools to restore nature and integrate regenerative farming techniques while producing solar energy.

While the guide is tailored to the unique ecosystem of the New England Tableland bioregion in northern NSW, its principles are relevant across the broad Australian landscape.

The guide emphasises that well-designed solar farms can achieve a net gain in biodiversity, without compromising solar generation capacity.

Moreover, the guide outlines co-benefits for industry, illustrating how developments can be future-proofed and streamline the approval process by exceeding current legislated requirements. By achieving biodiversity increases and leveraging ecosystem services, industry players can also build constructive relationships with host communities and Traditional Owners, while reducing land use conflict.

Presenters & Guide Co-authors:

• Dave Carr (Stringybark Ecological) - an ecologist who has conducted biodiversity assessments on land being scoped for solar projects, could see that installing solar arrays – whether large or small – could provide an opportunity for land to regenerate beneath and around them.
• Heidi McElnea - a regional sustainability coordinator with Community Power Agency, worked with Dave and a range of contributors to develop a guide to put ‘regenerative solar farming’ in practice on the New England Tableland bioregion.

Joining Dave & Heidi on a Panel discussion Q &A session will be:

• Eric Nordberg - a Senior Lecturer in Applied Ecology and Landscape Management at the University of New England
• Tim and Suzanne Wright - Regenerative Farmers from Balala (Northern Tablelands) who own a working farm producing superfine wool, lamb and beef.
• Mahri Koch - a widely-esteemed scientist who forged a reputation across the region as an environmental and sustainability champion and brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the GLENRAC team before her retirement in 2023.