{"id":282802,"date":"2024-09-03T23:15:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T23:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.lightsourcebp.com\/?p=282802"},"modified":"2024-09-04T15:39:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T15:39:27","slug":"solar-synergy-in-indiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox.lightsourcebp.com\/us\/news\/solar-synergy-in-indiana\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Synergy in Indiana: Our Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund partnership at Honeysuckle Solar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Honeysuckle Solar hosts co-located pollinator habitat in partnership with the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund<\/h2>\n

Critical habitat is disappearing in the United States. As a result, bees, butterflies and other pollinators are in serious decline. That\u2019s bad news for humans; these creatures are essential to life as we know it. One third of global food production is dependent on pollinator animals \u2013 honeybees and other insects pollinate most of the fruit and vegetable crops humans and livestock consume every day.<\/p>\n

According to many experts, solar farms can play a meaningful role in keeping pollinator populations healthy and strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the size, the shape and scale of utility-scale solar, it has the opportunity to be one of the most impactful things for pollinator habitat on the landscape,\u201d explains Pete Berthelsen, executive director of the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund.<\/p>\n\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Solar panels are mounted on racking that sits several feet above ground, leaving plenty of space for vegetation to grow beneath. The posts that hold up the racking \u00a0take up less than 10% of the land, leaving more than 90% of the land area available to provide a stable habitat for several decades over the solar farm\u2019s long life.<\/p>\n

Lightsource bp has been seizing this opportunity to establish and protect habitat at our solar farms for years, as part of our evidence-based biodiversity framework<\/a> and Responsible Solar ethos. A carefully curated community of plants grows under and around our solar panels, providing a stable long-term home for pollinators and other wildlife.<\/p>\n

The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund,<\/a> whose mission is to increase and improve critical pollinator habitat to help honey bee and monarch butterfly populations thrive, has started a new program to help more solar developers incorporate pollinator habitat into projects around the United States. Lightsource bp\u2019s 188MW Honeysuckle Solar<\/a> project in St. Joseph County, Indiana will be one of the first participants.<\/p>\n

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Pollinator Habitat for Honeysuckle Solar<\/h3>\n

As one of the first \u201cSolar Synergy\u201d partners, Lightsource bp\u2019s Honeysuckle Solar project features two distinct seed mixes. The combination will help distribute pollinator benefits across the entire site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greater the diversity you have in there, the more pollinator species and the more benefits you\u2019ll be able to impact,\u201d Berthelsen explained.<\/p>\n\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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