Page 17 - Wildlife News April 2015

Geel✘enivmocseatstrekuieaceyooloununrt The River Thames at Chimney Meadows, Oxon. These floodplain
meadows help to alleviate the flood risk further downstream. (Kerry Lock)

Let’s make nature count

The imminent General Election offers us the chance to cast a vote for nature.
Richard Bloor, Thames Vision Development Manager, champions the value
of natural capital locally

In January the Natural Capital Committee, a body that advises Government on environmental policy, published its third
State of Natural Capital report. This report highlights the crucial importance of ‘natural capital’, a term that represents the
elements of nature that underpin our continuing wellbeing and prosperity by providing benefits such as clean air,
clean water, food and recreation. It recommends eight priority areas where investment in nature would deliver value for
money and large economic returns.
As part of our continuing efforts to fight to protect wildlife in the three counties, BBOWT is seeking to adopt the
approach developed in this report as a spur to action for conservation beyond our reserves. An example of this is the
role of natural capital as a vehicle for promoting a large-scale habitat restoration programme that we are currently
planning in the Upper Thames (above Oxford) and its tributaries.
Of the eight priority investment areas recommended by the report, four are directly relevant to the Upper
Thames. By focusing on these four priorities we can show how habitat restoration can help wildlife, while at the
same time enhancing the economy and quality of life for people along the whole of the river. In each case these
enhancements are:
■ Woodlands: Woodland planting in the headwaters of the Upper Thames would have a valuable role in
reducing carbon emissions and, if sited appropriately, would help to improve water quality and reduce the
impact of flooding downstream.
■ Wetlands: Where opportunities can be identified to create new wetlands beside the Thames and its tributaries,
these would help to filter pollution, store water during flood events and provide recreational space.
■ Urban green spaces: Growing evidence shows that urban green spaces improve mental and physical health
and could provide considerable savings to the NHS. Places where rivers flow through our towns and cities
provide ideal locations for creating new urban parks and improving existing ones.
■ Sustainable farming: Working with farmers to create more natural habitats on farms would help prevent
agricultural pollutants running off. This could reduce the costs of water treatment and lower water bills.

Nature conservation for its own sake remains our overriding priority. We are adopting the language of natural

capital because it provides us with a powerful tool for promoting nature conservation in terms that will appeal to

policy makers and business leaders. By mobilising the support of powerful interests we aim to achieve substantial

gains for conservation across our three counties.

Considerable work is still required to achieve these gains. We need to use the principles of natural capital as a

means of attracting substantial funds for habitat restoration from both the public and private sector.

We also need to apply pressure on Government to fully adopt these principles in order to make nature integral

to public policy, rather than just an optional extra. This can only be done through the introduction of new

legislation that encourages putting natural capital at the heart of Government and business thinking. Your support

for the Wildlife Trusts’ campaigns for a Nature and Wellbeing

Act and more Marine Protected Areas, outlined on You can read more about our plans for
the following pages, could help achieve this. With habitat restoration within the Upper Thames at
the General Election approaching, the time for
us to apply this pressure is now! www.bbowt.org.uk/reserves/
chimney-meadows

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