Natural Capital Initiative

Organising Partners

The NCI is a partner of the International Year of Biodiversity

Key Messages

To policy makers and planners:

There is a pressing need for systems which act across government to integrate and harmonise departmental policies. Because ecosystem services are the foundation of much of our economic well-being our public policies must safeguard them against unsustainable use.
Both natural capital and social capital need to be supported. Having a stake in society better equips people to recognise and respond to the environment and treat it with respect. Lowering of social capital may also endanger natural capital.
Integration of ecosystem valuing mechanisms into fiscal policy and departmental targets is possible. HM Treasury is well positioned to assist with this.
Valuation of ecosystem services should be by economic and noneconomic means. Economic value alone will not provide the quality of services we seek and simple market mechanisms may produce unintended consequences. Clear policy priorities will be needed to guide decisions which cannot rely on fiscal measures alone.
To meet the urgent need for solutions to some problems it may not be practical to wait for perfect knowledge. Pilot programmes based on science-informed common sense could be facilitated. The planning consent process should develop review mechanisms and adaptable policy tools to capture learning.
Ecosystem services underpin human health and well-being so fundamentally that health science and opinion should occupy a strategically important position in policy development, planning and implementation.
Improved integration of science and policy across all sectors is necessary to give a seamless transition between urban, rural, freshwater and marine planning. There should be greater emphasis on landscape-scale planning.
An ecosystem service-based advisory system could be developed and made available to farmers and other land managers. It would need to be flexible and adaptive, and to include advice on optimising ecosystem services.
Planners must recognise the importance of ecosystem services in urban zones and protect and extend wherever possible biodiverse areas of urban environments.
Consideration should be given to the global consequences of national policies.
We would like to promote the idea that ownership of environmental assets carries a responsibility to optimise, in perpetuity, the value of the ecosystem services they can provide.

To communicators and educators:

We need to combat the idea that economics and the environment inhabit different universes.
Conservation of nature is often seen as in opposition to lifestyle aspirations. It is important to change that perception.
There is a growing and worrying disconnect between significant sections of society and their environment. This should be addressed. By failing to recognise the reality of our absolute reliance on ecosystem services, many do not realise that it is in our self-interest to preserve them.
Well communicated case studies are a good way to promote the value of an ecosystem approach. Positive, practical and realistic messages about how society interacts with ecosystems can help to communicate value.
We need a new, more accessible language to talk about our natural capital and the ecosystem approach.
The cultural value of ecosystem services is underestimated and we need to do more to re-emphasise our spiritual connection to nature.
The arts inspire awareness of the beauty and importance of our environment; we need to value and foster this.

To researchers:

New tools must be developed to include ecosystem services in decision-making.
Arts and humanities researchers should be more involved in developing valuation tools.
It is important to increase recognition of the dangers of deforestation. We need to develop a robust formula which can put a value on maintaining forests.
Collection, collation and integration of data sets are essential in order to facilitate and underpin joined-up environmental impact assessments.
We need a better understanding of the links between human wellbeing and ecosystem services. Both case studies and data are required.
The involvement of funders is crucial in the generation of new data, the development of new policy tools and the dissemination of information.
Spatial maps and models should be generated to inform management of our natural capital at a national level and the national planning framework. This should provide a comprehensive, high resolution, spatially explicit environmental asset inventory at sufficient resolution (no coarser than 1:25,000) to provide a good basis for models and decision-making tools.
We should develop ‘Urban Ecosystem Maps’ which illustrate local knowledge and link local people with cultural ecosystem services as well as illustrating the value of green space, water table management and other ecosystem elements.

To business leaders:

There is good reason to think that consumers, business and government all desire better resource management. Business should not be reluctant to take the initiative, and government should not fear a lack of public will.
Businesses can benefit by taking responsibility ahead of waiting for government to do so. By taking the initiative a business can gain strong customer loyalty.
There are multiple benefits from agriculture but farmers are motivated by their markets. We need to find ways to measure and communicate the value of those other benefits to their marketplace.
The unpredictability of supply associated with unsustainable exploitation of natural resources is a risk to business.
We need entrepreneurs who create and promote opportunities for sustainability and are seen to be earning as a result of it.