- Client
- A global real-assets investor (anonymised)
- Sector
- Investment & renewable energy
- Location
- Texas, United States
- Year
- 2026
Biodiversity baselines across a utility-scale solar portfolio
We gave a global investor consistent biodiversity baselines across three solar farms, and a practical plan to deliver and evidence gains.
Solar facilities can deliver nature gains as well as clean energy. © Okala
3
solar facilities surveyed
75
vegetation quadrats
73
bird species recorded
The challenge
The investor owns three operational solar facilities on former farmland in central Texas. It wanted to manage the sites for nature and to show measurable biodiversity gains to stakeholders. That required a consistent, repeatable baseline across the whole portfolio, not one-off surveys at single sites.
What we did
Between April and July 2026 we deployed camera traps, bird and bat acoustic recorders and 75 vegetation quadrats across the three sites. Results were processed on NatureCube and summarised with indicators that can be tracked over time, including a bird community index, diversity indices and vegetation greenness (NDVI).
The outcome
The surveys recorded 73 bird species and six bat species. The investor now has a consistent, repeatable baseline across its portfolio and priorities for each site, from diversifying vegetation and adjusting grazing to creating new habitat. It also has a monitoring cycle and indicators it can report year on year to show whether these actions work. Each new survey loads into NatureCube against the same indicators, so the investor can compare sites and years directly.
