The wealth of benefits from natural capital

But what does it really mean and how is it relevant to British agriculture?

Michael Gove stated in his address to the Oxford farming conference earlier this year: “Which takes me to the importance of natural capital - I am moved by the beauty of our natural landscapes, feel a sense of awe and wonder at the richness and abundance of creation, value wildlife as a good in its own right, admire those who work with nature and on our land, respect the skill and passion of farmers, growers, shepherds, stockmen, vets and agronomists who provide us with safe, high quality food and drink, and I want to see them prosper.”

Essentially the theory behind this statement is that agriculture and the management of land provides a wide variety of benefits to the British population, most tangibly; food and clean water supplies, and payment should be made for the provision of these services. Regarding food this quantification is easy - a farmer milks cows and gets paid for milk on the basis of the market demand.

Clean water provision is also relatively simple to understand. Water companies already offer schemes to encourage farmers to leave buffer strips along rivers and calibrate fertiliser spreaders, for instance. This is a direct working example of how a company provides funding to farmers to encourage them to manage land in a certain way to reduce their costs - ecosystem services in action.

However, there are also less obvious and harder to quantify benefits of farming and land management. These include the creation and preservation of environmental habitats, the preservation of British landscapes, public access to the countryside and public health.

How can the Yorkshire Dales be measured against Snowdonia for landscape quality and should farmers in Cornwall be reimbursed for public access more than those in Cheshire?

Companies and public bodies are being encouraged to recognise the benefits that farmers and land managers bring beyond food. Should the NHS be paying farmers to increase public access to reduce obesity or should revenue from the London congestion charge be used to recognise the countryside’s contribution to clean air nationally? These are extreme examples to prove a point but there is certainly momentum gathering around the idea of natural capital.

Although Gove and DEFRA are showing enthusiasm for natural capital and ecosystem services, one can’t help feeling that there is a long way to go until this theory can become practice and replace the current EU subsidy schemes.

Frances Steer is an associate land agent within Balfours