The landscapes around us provide various benefits such as the water and food that sustains us, the contribution of biodiversity to ecosystem resilience, and the health benefits of accessing green spaces.
Often the value of these benefits goes unnoticed in the economy; the notion of ‘Natural Capital’ attempts to acknowledge the fact that all these benefits contribute to society and our economy.
We undertook a Natural Capital assessment of the Tamar Valley National Landscape – a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the UK – to support the development of investment interest in the region’s environmental services. The report contains the findings and suggestions of how Natural Capital could be enhanced in years to come.
The study focused on three sites, including a restored wetland at Calstock, the potential for restored wetlands at South Hooe, and a potential woodland creation project at Wacker Quay.
Across the Tamar Valley National Landscape, we identified a total Natural Capital value of £39.4 million per annum (in 2022 prices), with the largest contributions coming from agriculture (£13.4 million), carbon sequestration (£8 million), and recreation (£6.8 million).
In addition to these annual values, the stock value of biodiversity in the Tamar Valley National Landscape is estimated to be almost £2 billion.
We also found the landscape has great potential to deliver further environmental and social benefits through a range of actions, with varying implementation timelines and costs. For example, hedgerow expansion and small-scale tree planting in the short term, and new wetland creation in the long term.
Work to consider possible investment opportunities in the study’s sites is ongoing. By putting a value on these services, we are likely to make better decisions about how we use our landscapes.
