11th January 2018
The 25 Year Environment Plan announced by Theresa May today marks the end of an era in which we have simply slowed the decline of the natural environment. It places more emphasis than ever before on the vital functions of the environment for a sustainable economy, such reducing flood risk and improving health.
23rd November 2017
For the first time, the total value of London's green spaces, and the value of the benefits they provide to people in London, has been assessed. The findings were published today in a report funded by the Greater London Authority, National Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund.
London is one of the world's greenest capital cities, with an extensive network of public parks and green spaces, though access to these varies across the city. headline figures in the report include:
15th November 2017
A major conference being organised by the Ecosystems Knowledge Network, taking place in London on 1st March 2018, will identify the best ways of securing much-needed investment in the UK’s natural environment. The Natural Capital Investment Conference will be a significant step forward in the quest for new ways of financing the restoration of key natural features such as woodland and wetland. The benefits that flow to everyone from this ‘natural capital’ have been valued at billions of pounds.
12th October 2017
There is a growing focus on the economic case for putting more resources into preventative healthcare, to reduce future demand on NHS services. At the same time, awareness of the benefits to people's physical and mental health of spending time in nature is increasing rapidly.
29th September 2017
The Agriculture Working Group of Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of 46 voluntary organisations in the conservation sector, has set out its ideas for a sustainable farming and land management policy in England. These proposals are driven by the current discussions around the future of support for the farming sector following Britain's departure from the EU. They make a case that policy should focus on environmental land management and securing public goods and benefits for all of society. There are three high level objectives identified:
13th September 2017
A review of 145 UK projects and initiatives involving private sector investment to improve natural capital has just been published by Defra. The aim was to provide a preliminary oversight of the current state of private sector investment in natural capital and ideas on how this can be scaled up. Amongst the projects included in the review some good examples of sourcing private finance were identified.
17th August 2017
Wildlife Trusts Wales has published an outline of how green infrastructure can help fulfill the goals set in the Wellbeing and Future Generations Act in Wales. It puts forward a vision for green infrastructure in the country and lists numerous pieces of evidence for the multiple benefits of GI, from tackling health inequalities to increasing prosperity and improving community cohesion.
Read the full report on the Wildlife Trusts Wales website
8th August 2017
The ECOSTAR initiative, to encourage and support entrepreneurs who are developing nature-based businesses, was launched in Manchester in June. ECOSTAR have just provided the following update on their activities:
8th July 2017
Public Health England has published an evidence resource for planning and designing healthier places. It includes a short section on 'Access to and engagement with the natural environment', setting out evidence in ways that will be helpful to those working in the health sector.
Access the resource at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fil...
Natural England’s ongoing Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) survey provides data on people’s use and enjoyment of the natural environment. The survey has been running continuously since 2009 and every week conducts at least 800 interviews with a representative sample of adults in England.
On 21st June 2017, Open Government Network Northern Ireland organised a webinar entitled 'The Sustainable Development Goals in the UK: priorities, processes, participation'. It provides a helpful introduction to what the Goals mean for the UK. The ecosystem approach principles - the focus for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network - can help to put the Goals into practice.
A link to the recording is available at https://youtu.be/sgrukwJbu6E
How does Scotland's natural capital contribute to its national wellbeing and economy? This afternoon event (2pm - 4pm) on Wednesday 28th June 2017, organised by ESComm, will showcase different strands of work taking place to help determine how sustainable the use of natural capital is and where important risks and opportunities lie.
Speakers include:
Cornwall Council has today (8th June 2017) launched a consultation on a Nature-on-Referral Service. This involves a hub that will coordinate and support work in this rapidly growing area; using our superb natural environment to make real changes in peoples’ health and wellbeing.
The full consultation document and a summary on the webpage is available at http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/doseofnature
Last call for bookings on our course on incorporating ecosystem services and natural capital into environmental assessment.
More details and booking link at http://ecosystemsknowledge.net/events/training-environmental-assessment
Best practice in commissioning green prescriptions - 7th June 2017, 10am - 4.30pm. Birmingham city centre (Austin Court B1 2NP)
This is a unique one-day training course to help professionals working in the health system to scope, design and implement a green prescription scheme in their locality.
The organisers are now able to make 10 places available at a much reduced rate of £60 (full course price £195). Bookings must be made by 5pm on 1st June. First come first served.
RICS has just published an insight paper reviewing environmental valuation from the perspective of a practising valuer, land manager or estate manager.
The principal author is Charles Cowap, a rural surveyor who is a member of the Ecosystems Knowledge Network.
Read the paper at http://www.rics.org/Global/Value%20natural%20capital_insight%20paper_Apr...
The Natural Capital Committee for England has published a draft (version 1) workbook for natural capital assessment, along with a paper that sets out principles for selecting approaches to valuation of changes in the state of natural capital.
"This practical guide is aimed at anyone who wants to use natural capital approaches in making decisions about the natural environment. It is intended to support decision makers, including planners, communities and landowners, but has particular relevance for place based decisions."
The Stroud Rural Sustainable Drainage project is being implemented to reduce the risk of flooding in the Frome Valley, England. Six case studies have been published and are available at https://www.stroud.gov.uk/rsuds
Following successful events in Bristol, Liverpool and Perth, our next seminar to introduce natural capital accounting at the local and landscape scale will take place in Peterborough on 17th May. 4 places left!
Defra and the University of Exeter have published this succinct summary of the evidence base on the positive associations between the environment and people's health. useful for local environment projects seeking to partner with organisations in the health system.
https://beyondgreenspace.net/2017/03/09/defra-evidence-statement-on-the-...
A summary of the results of a 2016 survey of perceptions about PES and its uptake in the UK is now available. See the link on our payments for ecosystem services landing page.
The Natural Capital Committee for England - appointed by HM Government - has published its fourth assessment report.
This report sets out the work done by the committee since March 2016. It also makes a series of recommendations to government on developing the 25 year environment plan. It includes recommendations such as:
A Natural England report - Good practice in social prescribing for mental health: The role of nature-based interventions has just been published.
Social prescribing is the mechanism which provides GPs with non-medical referral options, such as nature-based interventions alongside existing treatments to improve health and wellbeing - potentially at much less cost to the NHS. The prescription of nature-based interventions is often called a ‘green prescription’.
The Ecosystems Knowledge Network wants to know about you and how we can support your work. Please complete our short survey. It will help us to secure new funding for our work, as well as prioritise resources and events that meet your needs.
As a token of our thanks, we’ll select at random five people who complete the survey by noon on 18th January 2017 to receive £30 off one of our events in 2017. If need be, we'll refund this for bookings already made.
Defra has published an evaluation of the process of supporting 16 pilot projects to investigate the feasibility of setting up payments for ecosystem services schemes. The report provides an overview of the pilots, along with an assessment of the impact and costs and benefits. Find a link to the report on our payments for ecosystem services landing page.