Project summary

The aim of the Natural Capital Strategy is to generate an understanding of existing Natural Capital assets, and the type, value, and distribution of the benefits they provide, together with an agreed plan for maintenance and enhancement. This will provide an evidence base to inform decision-making, place-shaping, and investments for the county.

The Natural Capital Strategy will consider all the Natural Capital assets that are key to the county’s future prosperity, health, and wellbeing. To enable a landscape view on biodiversity, the project will entail mapping of ecological networks / habitat connectivity, and map areas of strategic priority and opportunity for biodiversity. Outputs will be spatial GIS data, as well as reports and workbook-based Natural Capital accounts. They will cover extent, condition, and location of natural assets, and how they contribute to the scale, distribution, and value of ecosystem services, as well as the risks and opportunities associated with them.

The study will identify the priority areas for the protection, restoration, and enhancement of each of these Natural Capital assets, focussing on delivering the right Natural Capital asset in the right place. The project will take climate change implications into account to maximise the economic, social, and environmental benefits that result.

Project team

Environment Systems is an established environmental and agricultural data company, providing trusted evidence and insight to governments and industry across the world since 2003. The consultancy delivers bespoke advice and solutions for land management, monitoring and policy for ecosystems, Natural Capital evaluation, agricultural trials, and agricultural supply chains.

eftec is a leader in the Natural Capital approach, having developed accounting methods for the Natural Capital Committee and as an author of the Natural Capital Protocol, and lead on British Standards Institute work on a standard for organisational Natural Capital accounts. Eftec has extensive experience of applying economics to environmental policy design, including land management incentives and agri-environment schemes.

SLR is a leader in global environmental and advisory services, provide advice and services to clients in the built environment, financial, infrastructure, industry, mining and minerals, landscape and heritage sectors.