| Related projects |
| Defra has commissioned several
projects and case
studies on the ecosystems approach |
| |
| Inventory study on natural environment
data 2 (NR0106) |
| The overall aim of the project is
to review the social and economic quantitative and
qualitative evidence base for assessing the state
of England's terrestrial ecosystems using an Ecosystem
Approach. The 'evidence base' refers to data, analyses
and stakeholder views and will complement and build
upon the natural environment evidence base specified
in Phase 1 of NEP (Natural Environment Programme).
The project will be managed by ADAS UK Ltd. |
| |
| England terrestrial ecosystem
services and the rationale for an ecosystems approach
(NR0107) |
|
Government policies that protect the natural
environment are diverse but lack the inegration
required to provide a sustainable future. A different
approach to policy development and implementation
is required to achieve sustainable patterns of
economic and social development and to meet the
goals set by both the UK's Strategy for Sustainable
Development.
The United Nation's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
not only recognised the multiple benefits that
ecological systems provide, but realised that
policy and planning decisions must also take into
account an ecosystem approach (EA). The EA provides
a way in which the overall health and integrity
of ecosystems can be assessed and the multiple
benefits society derives from them be better described
and managed.
This project will initially establish and agree
what an ecosystem approach involves and how it
can be used to make assessments of the benefits
that ecosystems provide at the national, regional
and local scales. The work will link closely with
the other concurrent Defra funded projects. The
project will be managed by ADAS UK Ltd in partnership
with the Centre for Environmental Management (CEM)
at the University of Nottingham who will co-ordinate
and lead the scientific contributions. Expert
input will be provided by a number of organisations
and international reviewers.
|
| see
more >> |
| |
| An assessment of the economic
value of England terrestrial ecosystem services
(NR0108) |
| This study will estimate the benefits
derived from the “ecosystem services” provided by
the terrestrial ecosystems of England, such as woodlands,
rural landscapes, rivers and moorlands. Ecosystem
services are the processes by which the natural
environment produces resources that are useful to
people, including goods like timber and fish, and
services such as purifying water, pollinating crops
and providing a natural defence against flooding.
Indeed, at a fundamental level, natural ecosystems
perform critical life-support services upon which
human civilization depends. |
| |
| Case study - Thames Gateway
Green Grids (NR0109) |
| The purpose of this project is to
assess the types of ecosystem services provided
within a particular case study area undergoing extensive
urban regeneration and how best they can be evaluated
within current land use planning and decision-making
frameworks. The study area selected is Kent Thameside,
a key development area of the Thames Gateway Growth
Area within the Government’s Sustainable Communities
Plan. The area is one already under some considerable
constraints, e.g. in terms of water resource availability,
flood risk, air quality, transport and biodiversity.
|
| |
| Case study - M6 Link (NR0110)
|
| This case study looks retrospectively
at a regionally important infrastructure development
- the Heysham M6 link in Lancashire for which a
planning application has recently been made. The
case study seeks to answer two questions. 1. How
well does the procedure that has been followed for
the proposed Heysham M6 link deliver the EA? 2.
To what extent can the information collected to
assess the impact of the Heysham M6 link, together
with other information already available, be used
to successfully use the EA? |
| |
| see more... |
| Defra
science and research projects: Land use >>
(external) |
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