The UK’s population of honeybees has fallen by 50% over the past two decades. An influx of pesticides, climate change, intensive farming and loss of habitat are all linked to this decline, causing wildlife campaigners, environmentalists, and scientists to demand actions that will safeguard these essential pollinators.

Honeybees, part of the pollinator group, play a vital role in increasing fruit and seed production, improving quality of produce, and speeding up ripening. Maintaining the diversity and distribution of pollinators in the UK is, therefore, vital to ensure some of our most popular and relied-upon crops thrive.

Traditional conservation methods, such as planting nectar-rich flowers, and reducing the use of pesticides, are failing to make a significant impact on honeybee numbers. Alternative measures must be sought.

With Scotland’s renewable energy targets set to make up 50% of total energy supply by 2030, the demand for clean, green energy sources is ever-increasing.

Solar farms offer a unique and powerful solution. While providing renewable energy to thousands of homes, solar farms also have the potential provide protected, safe havens for bees to inhabit and service our pollinator-dependent crops.

Research into how solar farms can contribute to and enhance biodiversity - including the presence of pollinator populations - has been a focus in recent years. Independent studies show that solar farms improve soil quality due to reduced exposure to pesticides and fertilisers, to the benefit of a variety of wildlife and insects that feed from the soil. Improved soil quality enables diverse flower species to thrive on solar farms.

For pollinators, the variety of species planted is more important than the quantity, and solar developers can make conscious decisions to manage optimal flower species for a specific location.

Sites for solar farms are often located on agricultural land as farmers adopt renewable energy developments as a form of land diversification. While the solar farm contributes to the survival and protection of pollinators, surrounding land growing pollinator-dependent crops will reap the benefits. As we look to the future, the strategic placement of solar farms on our agricultural land holds the potential to create significant opportunities for natural capital.

The opportunity for solar farms to contribute to the bee population is there, but this opportunity relies on solar developers working with landowners to devise comprehensive land management programmes for the population to thrive. A proactive approach which includes regular evaluation of the land and exploration of measures to benefit the bee population must be adopted. For some, this can involve re-seeding with native flower species, others have begun to work with local beekeepers to install hives on the solar farmland.

Bees are just one of the crucial wildlife species with can be protected by the positive environmental impact of solar farms. By developing strong land management plans on well-designed, strategically located solar farms, pollinators can inhabit a safe, optimal environment which, in turn, improves the quality of the UK’s important pollinator-dependent crops.

Neil Lindsay is MD at BLC Energy (BLCe), a renewable energy development company specialising in utility-scale solar PV and co-located battery storage projects across the UK

Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk