The National Trust has put together a set of ambitious guiding
principles for land managers to deliver high quality nature-based
solutions. The principles aim to ensure that solutions deliver for
nature, for the climate and for everyone.
Signatories believe that a climate-focused nature-based solution of
the highest standard will:
1. Be implemented alongside, not instead of, urgent and meaningful
action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change
and increase biodiversity, and be designed and monitored to ensure
that there is a net gain of carbon sequestration.
2. Create or restore wildlife rich habitats and ecosystems to
genuinely support nature’s recovery and provide long term
biodiversity increases in a changing environment.
3. Wherever practical, be designed, implemented or managed in
consultation with local communities to ensure they take account of
past, present, and future landscape character.
4. Facilitate opportunities, wherever practical, to deliver
benefits for communities and people, at a local and a national
level, including to address the impacts of climate change upon
people, communities, infrastructure and society.
5. Consider the location, ecology and the broader landscape, to put
the right solution in the right place and deliver multiple
benefits.
6. Be future-proofed and adaptively managed to ensure they are
climate resilient and effective for generations to come.
Nature-Based Solutions Compact
What are nature-based solutions and why do they matter?
Nature-based solutions are land management interventions that use
nature and natural ecosystems to deliver improvements against
societal problems, providing multiple benefits for the public and
for biodiversity. Widely recognised as a critical aspect of our
response to climate change, examples of nature-based solutions
include woodland creation, peatland restoration and coastal managed
realignment.
The demands on our land are multiple; from sequestering carbon to
supporting the livelihoods of many families, and from providing
habitats for nature to producing the food and natural resources
society needs to live prosperously. As the Committee on Climate
Change states in their Sixth Carbon Budget, ‘Delivering emissions
reduction should not be at the expense of increasing food imports
that risk ‘carbon leakage’’. To ensure our small island can meet
all of these needs, we must use the same plot of land to deliver
against several demands. Nature-based solutions answer this
challenge, as they deliver simultaneously against some of society’s
most pressing challenges, including:
Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions – There is a global climate
crisis and if we are to limit the ef- fects of climate change, we
need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions rapidly in the UK.
Restoring peatlands, for example, reduces the loss of carbon to the
atmosphere that occurs as the peat degrades.
Sequestering carbon – Woodlands, wetlands and saltmarsh are all
habitats known to sequester carbon efficiently, but the restoration
or creation of many other habitats will also make a
contribution.
Reversing the loss of nature – With unprecedented declines in the
abundance and distribution of the wildlife that underpins a healthy
environment, we need to restore and create bigger and better
habitats.
Restoring healthy soils, air and freshwaters – Targeted woodland
establishment can reduce atmospheric pollution and soil erosion.
Riparian buffers can help improve water quality and shade water
bodies from increased temperatures.
Adapting to the effects of climate change – The effects of climate
change have already negatively affected people, businesses and the
places we love. Trees can provide shade in extreme heat, and
floodplain meadows can be restored to store more water, alleviating
flood risk downstream.
Addressing inequality of access to nature – Evidence shows that
there are significant inequalities in people’s access to nature,
often correlated to poverty and BME representation.
Improving public health and wellbeing – A growing body of evidence
suggests that for those living in urban deserts, with reduced
opportunity to connect with the natural world, the impact on their
health and wellbeing is significant. More nature is needed within
and close to cities.
Developing rural economic opportunities – Rural areas often
struggle to retain young people because of limited local job
opportunities. Land based rural economies such as local food
markets, nature conservation and green access can generate local
green jobs. Increasing supply of sustainable high quality, nature-
and climate-friendly food and timber – Nature-based solutions can
meet the multiple demands on our land for climate and nature
improvements, while still delivering crops and livestock, and other
natural materials, grown to high environmental and animal welfare
standards. Domestic production of these goods ensures we are not
reliant on imports, which frequently carry a higher carbon
impact.
Nature Based Solutions Compact
Why do we need principles for nature-based solutions to climate
change?
Nature-based solutions will be a key mechanism to tackle a broad
number of issues, but they will be particularly useful in
addressing climate change. While they alone cannot fix the climate
crisis or alleviate all its effects, and we still also need to
adopt ways of living that produce less carbon, nature-based
solutions will play a crucial role in reaching the national Net
Zero greenhouse gas emissions target and in helping us to adapt to
the effects of climate change. Nature-based solutions, moreover,
are an effective solution that can be deployed immediately, as
opposed to other new technologies that are still being designed or
tested. For nature-based solutions to have a lasting and effective
impact, they will need to be designed well and deliver multiple
benefits that embed them in the landscape and local
communities.
That nature-based solutions provide these multiple benefits however
- for people, climate and nature – cannot be taken for granted. If
not properly planned and managed, solutions can be short lived or
unsustainable. Moreover, if implementing climate solutions
significantly reduces agricultural or natural resource production,
we will only displace our emissions to other countries.
Thus, the National Trust, as a practitioner of nature-based
solutions, has put together a set of ambitious guiding principles
for land managers, to ensure that solutions deliver for nature, for
the climate, and for everyone. The Trust hopes these principles
will help encourage the development and uptake of nature-based
solutions which meet the highest standards of delivery, are
integrated into nature-friendly farming, and directly tackle the
causes and effects of climate change. They represent our own
understanding of a quality solution and have been learned from our
practical experiences of implementing changes to our land use and
land management.
Nature Based Solutions Compact
Using Our Principles
The principles are based on the Guidelines put together by Oxford
University’s Nature-Based Solutions Institute and the IUCN’s Global
Standard for Nature-Based Solutions, and are written in a way to
ensure they are relevant to land managers in the UK. Accompanying
case studies illuminate how this theory translates to practice.
They are focused in particular on nature-based solutions that
target sequestering carbon and adapting to the effects of climate
change.
By signing this compact, these organisations pledge to seek to
reach this high standard themselves and/ or to recommend this
standard to their members. As land managers, however, we know that
meeting this high standard is extremely challenging, and there are
barriers that mean that at present it will not always be possible
in the face of the urgent response that the threat of climate
change demands. We also fully acknowledge the need for partnership
working between landowner and tenant to be able to effect real
change. However, these principles represent the gold standard we,
the signatories, aspire to meet and will endeavour to do our best
to achieve.
Signatories, as land-managers, need government support to
consistently deliver this high standard of nature-based solutions.
In particular, as they design the three tiers of the Environmental
Land Management Scheme, the signatories urge government to keep in
mind this compact and design a scheme that facilitates and
incentivises this high-quality delivery. Moreover, we ask that
those in local government refer to this compact also, particularly
when designing the Local Nature Recovery Strategies, as these will
be essential for integrating effective and high-quality
nature-based solutions into the existing landscape.
Nature Based Solutions Compact
Nature Based Solutions Compact
Signatories believe that a climate-focused nature-based solution of
the highest standard will:
Be implemented alongside, not instead of, urgent and meaningful
action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change
and increase biodiversity, and be designed and monitored to ensure
that there is a net gain of carbon sequestration.
1.
Create or restore wildlife rich habitats and ecosystems to
genuinely support nature’s recovery and provide long term
biodiversity increases in a changing environment.2.
The most pressing action we need to take to tackle climate change
is to reduce the harmful emissions we release. Society, and
particularly land managers, can do this, for example, by shifting
towards renewable energy sources, using electric vehicles, making
our buildings more energy efficient and reducing emissions from
agriculture.
Nature-based solutions can complement such carbon reduction
strategies and help reduce the impacts of existing and continuing
emissions; however, we cannot use nature-based solutions to
neutralise all the harmful emissions we are currently releasing.
Reducing emissions and mitigation efforts, including nature-based
solutions, will be crucial in reaching our national ambition of
having net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, for nature-based
solutions to be meaningful in the fight against climate change,
they must be accompanied by efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
Nature-based solution should be implemented alongside, not instead
of, existing and increased nature conservation policy, funding and
action which is essential to turn around the loss of biodiversity
in the UK. Implementing nature-based solutions will go a long way
to creating new, nature-friendly habitats, but significant separate
work is also needed to create the breadth of high-quality habitats
required by our native species .
Land use changes and management practices of nature-based solutions
can themselves generate emissions; steps should be taken to ensure
that these emissions do not outweigh the carbon seques- tered by
the solution. Where possible, baselining and monitoring should be
put in place so the net emis- sions of the project can be
understood and minimised.
Implementing nature-based solutions should not only deliver carbon
sequestration, but also generate long-term improvements to
biodiversity by creating new or restoring old habitats that
wildlife will use. This will ensure that any solution implemented
increases the number and abundance of species that benefit from the
land.
Land managers should ensure that there is a net increase in the
land managed for nature and the number of benefits delivered for
biodiversity through nature-based solutions. This should be done by
taking a baseline of wildlife abundance and frequent monitoring to
ensure that the solution is genuinely delivering for native
wildlife. Overall, any nature-based solution should contribute to
the Government’s effort to halt and reverse species decline by 2030
and should be monitored to ensure this is achieved.
Wherever practical, be designed, implemented or managed in
consultation with local communities to ensure they take account of
past, present, and future landscape character.
3.
In some cases, to implement a nature-based solution, consultation
with local communities is compulsory, but land managers, wherever
practical, should aim to work in collaboration with local
communities to ensure nature-based solutions are well understood
and accepted. The multiple benefits that land managers can deliver
to the environment and society are not always well-recognised.
Implementing nature-based solutions offers an opportunity for an
improved understanding between land managers and local communities
on what good land stewardship can provide.
Respecting the existing landscape character will help to ensure the
new solution is welcomed and is effective. This does not mean
nothing can change, rather it means understanding what is important
and special about local landscapes and interpreting this for
current societal and environmental demands. The historic uses of
the land as well as the needs of modern society must both be
considered. Taking account of landscape character also includes
protecting existing historic features and working with existing
plans for the neighbourhood, such as the Local Nature Recovery
Strategies in England.
Facilitate opportunities, wherever practical, to deliver benefits
for communities and people, at a local and a national level,
including to address the impacts of climate change upon people,
communities, infrastructure and society.
4.
Beyond just working with local communities, implementing a
nature-based solution provides the opportunity to deliver wider
benefits to people, beyond carbon sequestration and habitat
creation. This might include, for example, encouraging and
facilitating local access to nature, by providing a path through
newly planted woodland, or generating green jobs and
apprenticeships in the local area.
In particular, nature-based solutions can be an essential delivery
mechanism in helping society to adapt to more extreme weather
conditions, rising sea levels and flooding, caused by climate
change. These solutions are particularly beneficial because they
often involve land managers working in close partnership with local
people to reconnect them with and enhance the natural assets that
underpin and protect their homes and livelihoods.
Nature Based Solutions Compact
Consider the location, ecology and the broader landscape, to put
the right solution in the right place and deliver multiple
benefits.5.
Any land management change will have consequences, so it is
important to find the solution that maximises the benefits and
balances the trade-offs. These benefits might include carbon
sequestration, flood management, local community health, and
increasing biodiversity. Nature-based solutions by definition will
deliver multiple benefits across these categories and the best will
be an effective mechanism to deliver against the multiple pressures
on our land, from food production to providing new habitats. There
will often be choices in the benefits a project can deliver and a
fair, transparent, and inclusive process will be the best way to
balance these.
Different areas will be better suited to different solutions. This
means, for example, a landscape of deep peat will be better suited
to rewetting, rather than using it as a place establish a new
forest, because the former may store carbon more effectively and
the latter might release carbon from the soil. Early consideration,
through consultation with local and national experts, on where to
put a solution can ensure multiple benefits are delivered.
The natural context of a plot of land will also be influenced by
broader landscape-scale considerations, such as catchment areas,
and these will also have a bearing on which solution is most
appropriate. Land managers can look to plans and analysis of the
local area, including Local Nature Recovery Strategies in England,
to understand the potential of the land, how it could best be used,
and how it could best compliment the surrounding landscape.
Employing a nature-based solution does not necessarily mean taking
land out of agricultural production. In many cases, solutions can
be implemented that increase or diversify agricultural production,
while still delivering several benefits. Farmers should consider
what part of their land is most suitable to employing a
nature-based solution, both from the perspective of delivering
more, bigger, better and more joined up nature, but also from an
economic perspective.
Be future-proofed and adaptively managed to ensure they are climate
resilient and effective for generations to come.6.
When implementing a nature-based solution, consideration should be
given to the changes we will increasingly see to our land because
of climate change. Already, temperatures are becoming more extreme
and flooding and drought more commonplace and extensive, and these
changes will only increase. Not only can nature-based solutions
help to alleviate the effects of these changing weather patterns,
but solutions should be implemented that will be sustainable in
this new and changing environment . Adding regular review points
into the management plan of a solution will ensure it is correctly
adapted to changing circumstances.
We are still studying and learning about nature-based solutions, so
it is very likely that new techniques will develop and new best
practice will evolve as the evidence base grows. These should be
applied; management of nature-based solutions must evolve with the
science, as well as the climate. Innovation and testing of new
techniques and natural technologies should be welcomed and this
further requires fluid management and monitoring, to understand the
effect new techniques deliver and adapt them to ensure positive
outcomes. Management plans should also be flexible enough to react
and make changes if monitoring reveals the project is not
delivering the desired outcomes or if changing external factors
have impacted the project’s effectiveness.
Nature Based Solutions Compact
Case study: Riverlands - Porlock Vale, National Trust
Inspired by successful river restoration projects in America, the
National Trust piloted riverlands floodplain reconnection at our
Holnicote estate, the first time the technique had been tried in
the UK. This nature positive approach to restoration and land
management works with natural processes to enrich biodiversity,
store carbon, and slow and purify water.
As part of the Riverlands project at Porlock we’ve taken an
innovative approach to river restoration. Using earth moving
equipment we re-naturalised the flow of water of the River Allen
across the landscape, infilled the historic drainage and used woody
debris to develop more natural flow, giving water space and
developing increased ecosystem function with benefits for people
and nature.
The two-week restoration was undertaken in October 2019 and in just
over a year we have achieved complex channel structure and
vegetation, reconnection of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and
slower flow with multiple smaller channels, pools, riffles and
valuable wetland habitat. There have been benefits for wildlife
through development of more complex and abundant ecosystems and
creation of a mosaic of different habitats, providing a suitable
home for species like the endangered water vole, bats and
amphibians. The changesimplemented are developing a resilient
landscape which is better at adapting to the challenges of climate
change, acting as a buffer in times of flood and allowing aquifers
to recharge in times of drought.
Future phases of the project will restore natural function to a
significant part of the Allen catchment (over 130 ha) as well as a
lower reach of the Hawkcombe river, where we’ll develop complex
intertidal habitat by allowing the flow of the river out across its
floodplain - delivering improved habitats for nature and resilience
to the effects of climate change. This work is being combined with
wider landscape interventions. We’ll support farmers to demonstrate
an economically and environmentally sustainable approach to farming
that promotes biodiversity and supports ‘net-zero’ targets, for
example working with local farmers to deliver conservation grazing
with native breed livestock over more than 2500 ha of National
Trust owned land.
Case Studies
Case study: Warroch Hill Woodland Creation, Church Commissioners
for England
Warroch Hill, a marginal 1,069-acre hill farm in the Ochil Hills of
Perthshire, had been used for low intensity livestock grazing for
decades. It was identified as land with high potential for woodland
creation which would deliver multiple benefits, including
production of construction-grade timber and improvements for
biodiversity, landscape, and amenity value.
An extensive range of environmental, wildlife and impact surveys
were undertaken to establish any site sensitivities, including
surveys for birds, rare vegetation and archaeological remains. The
new woodland was designed to meet the UK Forestry Standard,
ensuring key elements of sustainability were met in relation to
biodiversity, climate change, historic environment, landscape,
people, soil, and water.
Planting was undertaken in two phases – in 2014 and 2020 – creating
an aggregate 819 acres of new woodland, of which 157 acres are a
variety of native broadleaves and open ground. In total, over
750,000 new trees were planted. A small area of peat at the very
top of the hill was left unplanted for carbon retention. The
Warroch Hill woodland creation scheme was one of the first to
provide a specific diffuse pollution plan to mitigate against the
potential for diffuse pollution into nearby Loch Leven. As part of
the works, existing private water supplies were augmented in
collaboration with the local residents.
As testament to the quality of woodland establishment, Warroch Hill
won the James Jones Trophy at Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards in
2015 for best new commercial woodland planting in Scotland. The
woodland is certified through UK Woodland Assurance Standard, an
independent certification standard for verifying sustainable
woodland management. Any trees harvested in the future will be
certified by FSC as sustainably produced and will aim to maximise
long-life carbon sequestration in construction-grade timber,
reducing reliance on imported timber. New trees will be planted in
their place to ensure a sustainable, renewable supply.
Case Studies
Photograph showing a well-established native broadleaf element
planted along the watercourse at the bottom of Warroch Hill,
phasing into a diverse coniferous woodland in the far right of the
photograph.
Case study: Clifton Wastewater Treatment Works, Yorkshire
Water
Yorkshire Water is set to create a new integrated constructed
wetland at its Clifton wastewater treatment works, near Doncaster,
which will provide a natural, sustainable and low-carbon way to
treat water before returning it to the environment.
An area approximately the size of three Olympic swimming pools
featuring interconnected ponds will be constructed and planted with
over 20,000 wetland plants. The wetland will help remove phosphorus
from millions of litres of treated water. The natural filtering
process will further improve the quality of water being returned to
the environment.
As well as providing a sustainable and energy-efficient way of
treating the water, the wetland will also increase biodiversity in
the area and attract a range of wildlife including bees and other
pollinators, breeding birds, amphibians and reptiles. Yorkshire
Water partners BarhaleDoosan JV and Stantec will be carrying out
the design and construction of the wetland, which is expected to be
completed in autumn 2021.
Michael Housby, lead project manager at Yorkshire Water, said:
‘This project is the first of its kind in Yorkshire and will
provide a range of benefits at our Clifton treatment works, not
only for the way we treat wastewater, but also for the local
environment…As part of the project we will be looking to engage
with the local community and plan to offer opportunities for local
groups and schools to come to the treatment works to help plant
some of the 20,000 plants that will carry this natural
treatment.’
Case Studies
Case Studies
Case study: Peatland Restoration on Dartmoor, Duchy of
Cornwall
Peatland is a precious habitat for nature and store of carbon, but
for centuries it has been mined, drained and damaged. There are
around 2,200 hectares of damaged peat on Duchy of Cornwall-owned
land. 410 hectares have already been restored or are currently
being restored. The latest project on Dartmoor will see a further
809 hectares restored. The remaining balance will be the subject of
future programmes as the Duchy aims to halt emissions from damaged
peatland before 2030.
The Duchy has joined forces with the South West Peatland
Partnership (17 organisations associated with Dartmoor) which has
secured funding via South West Water’s Green Recovery Initiative
and from Defra’s Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, to
deliver a multi-million pound project to restore damaged peatland
on the moors of Bodmin, Dartmoor and Exmoor. The Duchy has
contributed significantly to this funding.
Restoration increases the peatland’s resilience to climate change,
reduces emissions, and increases carbon storage. It safeguards
water supply; reduces downstream flood risk; restores ecosystems
and improves wildlife habitat; and helps people to better enjoy and
understand our peatlands.
The Duchy is looking to stimulate and support the development of
local businesses who will become suppliers into the peatland
restoration and maintenance industry. From sourcing equipment to
securing training opportunities and demonstrating a long-term
commitment to using local contractors, the Duchy aims to generate
jobs locally.
Case study: Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership, National Park
Authorities
The majestic River Rye meanders through a variety of landscapes
from moorland and upland farmland, through villages, and the arable
and livestock farmland of the lowlands - once a lifeblood for
communities, providing clean water, power and supporting an
abundance of wildlife, but our connection to the River Rye is
gradually being lost. Ryevitalise crosses boundaries: the river
does not recognise these.
The Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership in North Yorkshire works with
local communities, volunteers and land managers to restore and
enhance the River Rye and its tributaries, as well as encouraging
people to reconnect with the history, cultural heritage and
wildlife of the area. The whole project area is 413 km2
(approximately 160 square miles). Nearly two-thirds (63%) is within
the North York Moors National Park area and nearly one-quarter
(23%) is in the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
(AONB). The remaining 15% is land outside of these Protected
Landscapes, mostly arable farmland along the vale of Pickering.
There are 532 miles of becks, streams and river!
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, North York Moors
National Park Authority and other partners including disability
groups and the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,
it is establishing Conservation Agreements with local land managers
and delivering education activities to schools and outreach groups.
They are also developing projects to improve water quality,
training volunteers to undertake practical conservation tasks, as
well as developing groups of Citizen Scientists to undertake
species and habitat surveys.
Case Studies
Case study: Agroforestry on a Livestock Farm, Nature Friendly
Farming Network
Nic and Paul Renison farm at Cannerheugh Farm on the edge of the
Pennines overlooking the Eden Valley and the Lake District.
Cannerheugh is a 350-acre upland farm with a mix of unimproved and
improved pasture susceptible to the Helm Wind - a furious easterly
wind and the only named wind in the UK. Agroforestry was an ideal
land management approach that would provide their farm with
windbreaks to prevent soil erosion and shelter for their
livestock.
Nic says: “We moved to the farm in 2012 and our need for smaller
fields and shelter led us to work with the Woodland Trust and some
stewardship schemes. Planting started in 2014 and we have since
planted over 2km of hedges (12,000 trees) and also riparian
corridors and pockets of woodland around the main grazing block. On
the fell ground, we have planted a 6ha block to protect a water
course from erosion. We have used a mixture of species, all native,
such as Oaks, Aspen, Willow, Blackthorn, Field Maple, Wild Rose,
Hawthorn, Hazel, Bird Cherry, Scots Pine and Rowan.”
“The benefits increase as the years go on and our hedges are now
nearly seven years old, providing much needed windbreaks and also
shade from the sun. But this is only part of the story - bird life,
insect life and general job satisfaction make this one of our best
investments yet.”
“We combine our tree and hedge planting with mob grazing, which has
created better grass growth and improved diversity, seen through
the increase of clover which is beneficial to the sward by fixing
nitrogen into the soil.”
“Ultimately, making space for woodland has helped us to make the
farm more profitable. We have a reduced need for inputs and reduced
lamb loss as our trees and hedges provide much needed shelter. Six
years ago, we stopped using fertiliser, sprays and ivermectin. This
has led to a continual improvement in biodiversity and soil health,
which we measure by earthworm activity and dung beetle populations
– all good indicators of soil health.”
Case Studies
Case study: Medmerry Nature Reserve, RSPB
Medmerry Nature Reserve, in West Sussex, sits on a section of
England’s southern coastline which includes the small town of
Selsey. This area was at extreme risk of flooding from high tides
and storms. However, restoration of 183 hectares of intertidal
habitat, including saltmarsh, means that Medmerry now provides not
only some of the most important places for birds in Britain but
cost-effective flood-risk management for 348 properties, for the
local water treatment facility and for the only road to a local
town servicing 5,000 residents. The new saltmarsh area also
sequesters and stores carbon, helping to mitigate climate change,
and helps the area to adapt to sea level rise and coastal erosion
caused by climate change.
This was all achieved through a process known as managed
realignment. This involves building new sea defences inland from
the coast and allowing a new ‘intertidal’ area to form seaward of
the intertidal defences. Natural intertidal habitats such as
saltmarshes and mudflats would ordinarily absorb strong waves to
reduce the depth and length of peak water levels and erosion from
storm surges. When this habitat is lost, or when it is not able to
move naturally inland as sea levels rise, coastal communities are
put at much greater risk of flooding.
There have been significant economic benefits from the managed
realignment at Medmerry. Maintenance of the previous coastal
defences, a 3km shingle bank, was costing the Environment Agency
£300,000 per year. The overall direct economic benefits are
estimated at £90 million, compared with project cost of £28
million.
Local people are using this new, easily accessible green space to
exercise and socialise and collectively help manage the reserve,
which helps improve their health and mental wellbeing. The project
has also helped to attract green tourism; based on the use of the
car parks alone, it is estimated that there are at least 30,000
visitors a year. Local farmers are also able to get higher prices
for the beef produced from the cattle that graze the saltmarsh
grasses on site, given that the beef has a higher percentage of
salt that is favoured by consumers.
Since the creation of the site, bird populations have flourished.
The breeding and wintering populations of wading birds such as
avocets, lapwings and oystercatchers have all increased
significantly. Notably, avocets first bred at RSPB Medmerry in
2014, and in 2019, 22 pairs nested. Also in 2014, black-winged
stilts bred, only the third successful breeding record in the whole
of the UK.
Case Studies
Case study: Connecting the Culm, Blackdown Hills Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty
Connecting the Culm is a catchment-based partnership project
working to tackle some significant challenges faced by the River
Culm in Devon, running from January 2019 until December 2022. It is
part of a larger Co-Adapt (climate change adaptation through
co-creation) project, part funded by EU Interreg 2 Seas.
The partnership project aims to make the River Culm and its
floodplain more resilient to flood and drought, using nature-based
systems and approaches; improve water quality and biodiversity on
the Culm (and consequently in the Exe and its estuary); and
encourage people living in the catchment to feel more involved in
decision-making and support the use of nature-based solutions to
manage water.
The project will do this firstly by improving local people’s
understanding of water management techniques and the function of
the river/catchment ecosystem as an integrated whole. It will also
create new opportunities for people to collaborate in addressing
water management, leading to communities cooperating more
effectively to address the challenges created by climate change. As
part of this, it will install tangible demonstrations of
appropriate nature-based solutions to build confidence, encourage
cooperation and raise aspirations – these will be replicable and
provide solutions that can be rolled out by the community. Finally,
it will develop a Blueprint for the Culm, which will be the
masterplan for the whole catchment for the next 25 years,
co-created by the people that live and work within the catchment
and the organisations that have a role in the area.
Case Studies
Key National Trust Contacts If you would like more information
about this document, have any questions or queries, please do get
in touch.
Katie Ramsey - Policy Officer E:
[email protected]
Adam Royle - Head of Advocacy M: 07768 88 83 28 E:
[email protected]
If you would like to sign up to these prinicples please get in
touch
Signatories