Impact Partner: Good Bee Projects

Impact Partner: Good Bee Projects

ORIT is committed to creating positive ecological impacts not only within its solar sites, but also within the communities where it establishes and operates its assets. Since 2021, ORIT has partnered with The Good Bee Company, a network of beekeepers with one central mission, “bringing people, businesses and communities together in partnership for the planet”. Working with local beekeepers on ORIT-owned solar sites, ORIT sponsors beehives and multiple ‘bee and biodiversity workshops with local schools, successfully launching education initiatives.

ORIT also has four beehives held on one of its UK solar farms (Chisbon). On-site, beehives are managed sensitively, working in close consultation with consulting ecologists, local farmers and the bee keeping association.

The Bee Friendly Schools programme is a hands-on based education programme that aims to raise awareness and rebalance ecosystems by empowering young learners to actively create positive ecological impacts

Activities include:

• ‍Installation of pollinator gardens: Installing gardens with nectar-rich plants and flowers that will provide the bees and other native pollinators with sources of food, to help deliver biodiversity benefits to the local area and become a learning tool to teach the students about plants, pollinators and biodiversity for years to come‍
• Installation of bumble houses onsite: Installing bumble houses on site to encourage local bumblebee populations to thrive. Biodiversity enhancement measures create pollinator-friendly ecosystems are essential to the recovery of the bee population and the protection of our own agricultural processes‍‍
• ‍Distributing wildflower growing kits and education resources across Britain: Students from primary schools learn about importance of bees, their role in protecting biodiversity and benefits of beehives ‍
• ‘Meet the Bees’ workshops by beekeepers: Visits to local schools, with honey bees in observation beehives, provided learning activities and education resources

“Pollinators are the cornerstone of healthy ecosystems. The initiative at Chisbon provides a habitat for wild and native bees alongside our managed bee colonies. Chisbon will benefit the community for miles around, not only with clean renewable energy, but with the pollination of trees, crops and plants that provide us with clean air and fresh local food. We have a lot to thank bees for, and we are happy ORIT agrees” - Wade Ball, The Good Bee Company, commenting on the project at Chisbon

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Initiatives to-date:

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