Natural capital: economic benefits assessment
Outlines new economic analysis that quantifies the likely economic impacts, measured as output and jobs created, from hypothetical cross-sector regional and national programmes of natural capital investment in Scotland.
Appendix B – Model User Guide
Natural Capital Intervention Intervention description |
Model Input Values |
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|---|---|---|
Investment amount (£) |
Intervention Area (ha) |
|
Woodland Creation & Management The creation and management of new areas of woodland for timber products, carbon sequestration or habitat creation purposes. |
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Peatland Restoration The restoration and management of areas of peatlands in line with the Peatland Code. |
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Overall Regenerative Agriculture The transition from intensive agriculture techniques to a wide range of management practices designed to maximize plant diversity, develop more resilient soil and support a wide range of biodiversity. |
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Coastal Restoration The creation and restoration of habitats such as coastal saltmarsh. |
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Woodland Management The management of existing areas of woodland for timber products, carbon sequestration or habitat creation purposes. |
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Peatland Management The management of areas of previously restored peatlands in line with the Peatland Code. |
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Regenerative Agriculture Management Landscape management practices designed to maximise plant diversity, develop more resilient soil and support a wide range of biodiversity. |
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Coastal Management The management of previously restored areas of habitats such as coastal saltmarsh. |
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Catchment-based approach to clean water The reduction in surface pollution and nitrate run off through landscape management practices designed to create riparian strips, develop more resilient soil, and support a wide range of biodiversity. |
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River re-naturalisation & Natural Flood Management The creation of more natural river flows and floodplains through interventions such as channel widening and re-naturalisation. |
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Regenerative Agriculture – Soil Health The transition from intensive agriculture techniques to a wide range of management practices designed develop more resilient soil. |
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Access creation The creation of access tracks and footpaths to increase the accessibility to existing areas of habitats such as woodlands or peatland bogs. |
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The template would enable users to, for example, compute the economic benefits of projects secured under the Nature Restoration Fund. Table B.1 below provides a list of successful projects under "Transforming Nature 2022-31".[37]
Organisation |
Project title |
|---|---|
Dee District Salmon Fishery Board (DDSFB) |
Instream River Restoration – Mar Lodge & Abergeldie Estates |
University of St Andrews |
Green Shores: Restoring biodiversity and resilience to fringe saltmarshes |
Scottish Invasive Species Initiative Partnership (NatureScot) |
Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (Phase 2) |
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh |
Saving Scotland's most threatened species |
RSPB Scotland |
Re-naturalising and Expanding Abernethy Forest |
Woodland Trust Scotland |
Arkaig Landscape Restoration Project |
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust |
Wilder, Wetter Caerlaverock |
RSPB Scotland |
Biosecurity for Scotland's seabird islands |
Froglife Trust |
Coalface to Wildspace Scotland |
Lockett Agri-Environmental |
River Peffery Catchment Development Project |
Tarland Development Group |
Tarland to Coull River Restoration |
Forth Rivers Trust |
Unlocking the Leven |
Tweed Forum |
Reconnecting and restoring the Bluidy Burn |
RSPB Scotland |
Managed Realignment at Inch of Ferryton |
St Andrews Links Trust |
Jubilee Shore Restoration |
Forth Rivers Trust |
Ballimore Landscape Restoration Project |
Tweed Forum |
Upper Leader Water Scoping and Restoration |
RSPB Scotland |
Saving Morvern's Rainforest |
Glasgow & Clyde Valley Green Network |
Clyde Grasslands |
Ardtornish Estate Company Ltd |
Aline Catchment Restoration |
Green Action Trust |
Leven River Parks Nature Network |
Nith Catchment Fishery Trust |
River Nith Restoration |
Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Rivers Trust |
Findhorn Watershed Initiative – Upper Catchment Phase 1 |
Bamff Wildland |
Braes of Alyth: Wild Cores and Corridors |
RSPB Scotland |
Cairngorms Connect – Delivering a Vision for Natural Rivers and Floodplains at Insh Marshes |
River South Esk Catchment Partnership |
Restoring the River South Esk: A Nature Rich and Climate Resilient Catchment |
Plantlife International |
Transformative Action for Cairngorms Grasslands |
Southern Uplands Partnership |
Undoing the Silence of the Uplands |
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Countryside Trust |
Wild Strathfillan & Glen Falloch Nature Restoration |
Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT) |
Saving Argyll's Rainforest (Knapdale Rhododendron Control) |
St Andrews Botanic Garden Trust |
Plants on the Move |
ReadMe instructions sheets
1. Readme instruction sheets
This sheet provides an overview of the tool and its purpose, and guides the user on how to carry out an assessment. The sheet includes guidance on the cells the user can edit and those which should remain locked.
2. Data input sheet
This sheet allows the user to input project specific information such as the assessment date and scenario name, location and description. This sheet enables the user to input the proposed area of each natural capital intervention or the investment amount. Users must only enter area or investment amount and not both. The relationship between investment amount and natural capital intervention areas is defined within the reference for each natural capital intervention type. The characteristics entered will define the results of the modelling process.
3. The overall summary sheet
The overall summary sheet shows users the results of the environment-economy model and summarises the results across the different natural capital interventions. The results summarised include the total capital expenditure within different economic categories, the number of jobs potentially created and total output effect. The sheet is read only and will update as the site characteristics and relevant activities are updated by the user.
4. The detailed summary sheet
The detailed summary sheet presents the results of the environment-economy model and breaks down the results of the different natural capital interventions into the component activities and the different SIC codes, and highlights potential overlap. The results summarised include the total capital expenditure within different economic categories, the number of jobs potentially created, and total output effect. The sheet is read only and will update as the site characteristics and relevant activities are updated by the user.
5. The GFI category summary sheet
The GFI category summary sheet shows users the results of the environment-economy model and summarises the results across the different categories. The results summarised include the total capital expenditure within different economic categories, the number of jobs potentially created, and total output effect.
6. Natural capital intervention results sheets
The natural capital intervention results sheets breaks down the individual activities and costs that are used to build up the model and generate the results. The cells within this sheet are mainly locked and for view only purposes. The natural capital intervention results sheets also summarise distribution of investment across economic linkage category, SIC codes and the relevant economic multipliers. The job leakage is calculated using location quotients, which are used to measure an areas industrial specialisation. A location quotient of more than one suggests the area has a specialisation in this industry, and below one vice-versa. Utilising the location quotient as a proxy, estimates as to the amount of jobs generated from the investment which are "leaked out" of the study region can be made. These "leaked" jobs are estimated to go to surrounding regions which have high location quotients, and therefore a specialisation in the given sector. If the jobs created can be done remotely (desk-based), then areas outside of Scotland are considered for potential "leakage" destinations.
7. Reference data sheet
The reference data sheet provides the user with the estimated standard costs used for each natural capital intervention. This sheet contains all of the activities referenced within the original Input-Output models and additional activities that may also be relevant to certain projects. The sheet enables the user to edit the existing values or include new activities when better sources of data are available. The purpose of the sheet is to enable users to tailor the assessment and the values used within it to suit their particular needs.
Contact
Email: peter.phillips@gov.scot
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