Good progress on land management and ecology at Orchard Farm

Good progress has been made on land management and ecology over the past year at our Orchard Farm solar site (in partnership with Kent Community Energy and Wychwood Biodiversity). In addition to hedge and tree planting and re-sowing areas of wildflowers as part of the ongoing medium to long-term biodiversity enhancement plan, new habitat boxes were installed towards the end of April and several bird surveys have now been undertaken. The first survey identified 23 different breeding species, with 7 of these listed as Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCCS), including 2 on the 'Red List' (Linnet and House Sparrow). The aim of these surveys is to allow us to track improvements in biodiversity over future years.