Natural Capital - Policy Recommendations

Advance

• Create a crowd-source GIS platform shared by local authorities to consult on green initiatives across the Arc. This would allow local and regional stakeholder groups to submit and consult on ideas for delivering large-scale nature improvements across the region, such as the creation of pollinator habitats, enhancement of agricultural productivity, and green corridors to connect urban and rural environments. 
  
  
• Digitally map the Oxford-Cambridge Arc’s natural capital assets, to develop a health check of the Arc’s natural capital ‘stock’. Natural capital accounting would illustrate visually how new development patterns affect and/or enhance natural resources in the region. This would also place a renewed emphasis on biodiversity net gain, and promote confidence and accountability as the region grows.
  
  
• Local authorities in the Arc should devise natural capital management plans, labelling the principal uses of greenfield land and proposing optimal uses of underutilised built and natural assets. This would unlock the potential to convert inefficient land into wetlands and forests which intensify carbon sequestration, and rationalise the reuse of vacant space.