Building Dorset’s natural capital The LNP response to the Dorset Environmental Economy report Dr Simon Cripps Chair – Dorset Local Nature Partnership

Summary

1. Environment is valuable in Dorset. 2. It makes financial and social sense to look after the environment. 3. Projects and programmes that incorporate economic, social and environmental considerations are likely to be more successful, less risky and more efficient. 4. All development should seek to increase our environmental assets.

1. Environment is valuable in Dorset • £0.9 – 2.5 billion pa and 17,000 - 61,000 jobs. • Quantifiable link between economic return and the environment. More than the Green Economy • Dorset isn’t Swindon! • Environment is, or lies behind, Dorset’s brand and competitive niche – tourism, food, lifestyle, beauty, designations. • A business builds its assets and improves on its competitive edge – so should Dorset plc.

2. It makes financial and social sense to look after the environment - Natural Capital • Natural Capital is the stock of natural resources which supplies goods or services. • Parallel to the economic concept of capital, i.e. resources which enable the production of more resources. • Value of the natural assets and the services derived. • Like economic investments we need to live off the interest or revenue, not erode the asset. • Tony Juniper – huge Ponzi scheme. • Build the asset and we build the revenue and allows sustained development to occur.

Summary of ecosystem services derived from natural capital assets (Ash Futures Ltd, 2015)

3. Projects and programmes that incorporate economic, social and environmental considerations are likely to be more successful, less risky and more efficient. Planning for success: • If a company didn’t disclose an issue in its annual statement that was materially relevant to the value of its shares then it would be considered fraudulent. • Projects that take a siloed approach, considering just one of the three elements (even economic!) are unlikely to be as successful. • Not just environmentalism, it is business common sense. • Examples . . .

Examples of a lack of integrated thinking £ - Housing developments that have false economies by not including green infrastructure and easy access to countryside may experience lower house prices, community opposition and be poorly looked after by residents. £ - Conversion of farmland to maize production that gives a short-term economic benefit but may cause greater nutrient run-off and increase the potential for flooding lower in the catchment. £ - Major road development that does not take the opportunity to factor in cycle-ways or green infrastructure will not fit into either the landscape or the community as well.

Example of integrated thinking St Leonards Hospital • A development in the Bournemouth greenbelt. • 5 species of reptiles, important grassland, rare plants, a protected bird and two bat roosts. • Planning stage discussions for a net gain + the housing required • Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) + improved habitats for the key species + 50 y management. • Housing development + net gain at a cost that wasn’t restrictive. • The Dorset Biodiversity Appraisal Process focusses on real improvements not just processes.

4. All development should seek to increase our environmental assets (NC) • Several ways to calculate natural capital – many complex. • Simple, pragmatic approach is to ensure a net gain for the elements of the environment that are impacted (with limits!). • This can easily be incorporated into the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan. • This would make the SEP’s development aims more sustained and likely to succeed with community support. • Applied either through existing planning policy, i.e. NPPF, or through development funding programmes.

Conclusions 1. The DCC & partners’ report shows that the environment and its designations are extremely economically valuable for Dorset. 2. Environment is Dorset’s primary brand and competitive niche. 3. There is an alternative concept for the economic development of the county that incorporates economic, social and environmental considerations. 4. The environment as an asset needs to be built to increase the chances of the success of developments and ensure future development is possible. 5. Each development project and programme needs to build the natural capital of Dorset.