Following much talk on the topic of the buzz topic – Natural Capital, today DEFRA have released a template to help land managers. The template aims to provide a method of assessment for specific environments, the benefits they provide and the potential impact of any changes.
The template is not the answer for those of you looking to create a new set of Natural Capital accounts to prove in pounds and pence the wider benefit you are providing to the environment. However, for those of us who complete planning applications, environmental reviews and look at the potential of a landscape for the future this is a useful tool for assessing the impact of our decisions.
Ellen Bryan of Rostons comments “this new template is a very useful way of identifying the impact on the environment of projects such as development and planning applications, as well as identifying key high-value environmental features which can be built on through further environmental works”.
Rostons have been working on Natural Capital for over 12 months now, and see this development as a welcome step forward in the sector.