The number of people who live in urban areas in the UK is expected to increase over the next decade, while the total provision of green spaces is expected to substantially decline, as infrastructure increases to meet the needs of a growing population. The EFRA (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Committee’s inquiry will focus on […]

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CIRIA has launched a new tool for calculating the benefits of green and blue infrastructure CIRIABEST (CIRIA’S Benefits Estimation Tool) The tool and guidance make assessing the benefits of blue-green infrastructure easier, without the need for full scale economic inputs. CIRIABEST was first produced and released as a spreadsheet tool (‘BeST’) in 2015 and was […]

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The report reveals the many benefits that nature-based solutions can deliver across developments and communities as well as guidance to support built environment stakeholders to overcome current barriers with communicating the value of nature based solutions. Read more and download the report here

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Paper Summary: Dave K A Barnes & others:  ‘Solving biodiversity loss and climate change are part of the same problem; intact natural habitats can provide powerful and efficient climate mitigation if protected. Beyond the land (forests), there is little appreciation of just how important ocean nature is to climate mitigation. Carbon captured, stored and the […]

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Defra: Natural Flood Management Programme: initial findings This report explains the benefits of the Natural Flood Management Programme and celebrates its successes. Natural flood management uses nature-based solutions to manage the risk of flooding and coastal erosion.  The Natural Flood Management Programme had 60 pilot projects across England. It received £15 million of funding from […]

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The £2.1million government-funded Weardale Natural Flood Management scheme, which includes a series of nature based solutions such as storage areas, wooden leaky barriers and timber fences, could reduce flood risk across 41km2 to communities including Lanehead, Wearhead, Westgate and Stanhope. It’s also seen 150 hectares of peatland restored, will aim to create up to 75 […]

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There is a torrent of information on the Defra website at present in connection with sustainable farming standards, including on how land managers can create lakes and ponds to benefit wildlife and improve the landscape.  Defra ‘Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot: environmental outcomes and benefits The 8 standards include one on ‘Water Body Buffering’ will help […]

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