Natural Environment Valuation Online (NEVO): Web-based tools for natural capital management and investment

虽然许多企业和公共部门组织明白，自然资本是社会经济繁荣、生活质量和福祉的重要直接和间接来源，但它们往往缺乏从物质或经济角度量化这些惠益的能力。这种能力存在于自然科学家和经济学家开发的往往复杂的模型中，但这种模型估计维持或增加自然资本存量的好处的能力通常在学术界之外是找不到的。由于这种惠益规模的证据可能是为决策提供信息2和制定政策设计的基础，开发支持更好地核算和评估自然资本的工具已被确定为将环境纳入公共和私营部门决策的核心的关键要求。这项提议的中心目标是创建这样的工具。特别是，我们将开发一个基于网络的应用程序，允许政府、企业和公众通过易于使用的基于地图的界面来访问由NERC资助的自然资本模型的力量。该界面是自然环境评估在线工具(NVO)，将允许用户探索和可视化自然资本管理变化对英国生态系统服务流动的影响。首先，NEVO将专注于量化和评估自然环境以及与自然和半自然环境相关的娱乐用途所储存和吸收的碳。最重要的是，NVO将允许用户查询支撑自然资本的模型，以便回答他们自己设计的问题。为了更好地了解这些问题的确切性质，并为NEVO的发展提供信息，我们将与许多伙伴组织密切合作，每个组织都参与自然资本的管理和促进：1.Defra的环境分析股，其核心利益包括开发工具，以支持新的环境25年计划2。负责英国林业的林业委员会(FC)，包括《林地碳码》的管理，这是一个自愿的守则，在林地碳项目的会计核算中提供一致性、清晰度和透明度。摩尔树，一个慈善组织，致力于用当地的树木重新造林达特穆尔，使人们能够重新参与树木和自然环境。TreEconomics是一家专门测量和评估城市树木效益的社会企业。他们的使命是通过让当地人民、企业和公共机构参与他们的项目，提高人们对树木和林地作为自然资产的价值的认识。GeoSmart信息有限公司是一家支持可持续发展的数据和服务公司，在地下水洪水风险和可持续排水系统领域提供一系列数据产品和创新的订阅服务。NEVO将与这组项目合作伙伴共同开发，以确保他们在决定用户界面的性质、用户在查询模型时可以控制的变量以及如何可视化和记录输出方面的直接投入。该项目建立在NERC资助的自然和经济科学的复杂模型的基础上，包括国家生态系统评估后续项目(NEA-FO)和评估自然网络安置赠款，确定用户对自然资本工具的需求范围。此外，该项目将建立在研究小组提供Defra资助的原型户外娱乐评估工具的经验的基础上，该工具证明了为自然资本评估创建基于地图的网络应用程序的可行性，这些应用程序可供广大受众使用(http://leep.exeter.ac.uk/ORVal).Keywords：自然环境、评估、碳、娱乐、工具、地图、基于网络的、

While many businesses and public sector organisations understand that natural capital is an important direct and indirect source of socio-economic prosperity, quality of life, and well-being, they frequently lack the capacity to quantify those benefits in either physical or economic terms. Such capacity exists in the often sophisticated models developed by natural and economic scientists, but the power of such models to estimate the benefits of maintaining or enhancing natural capital stocks has generally been unavailable outside the academic community. Since evidence of the size of such benefits may be fundamental for informing decision making2 and shaping policy design, developing tools that support better accounting and valuation of natural capital has been identified as a key requirement in bringing the environment into to the heart of public and private sector decision making. The central objective of this proposal is to create such tools.In particular, we will develop a web-based application that allows government, businesses, and the public to access the power of NERC-funded natural capital models through an easy-to-use map-based interface. This interface, the Natural Environment Valuation Online tool (NEVO), will allow users to explore and visualise the consequences of changes in natural capital management on flows of ecosystem services in the UK. In the first instance, NEVO will focus on quantifying and valuing carbon stored and absorbed by the natural environment and recreational uses associated with natural and semi-natural environments. Most importantly, NEVO will allow users to query the underpinning natural capital models in order to answer questions of their own design. To better understand the exact nature of those questions and so inform the development of NEVO, we will work closely with a number of partner organisations each of whom is engaged in the management and promotion of natural capital:1. The Environment Analysis Unit at Defra, whose core interests include the development of tools to support the emerging 25 Year Plan for the Environment.2. The Forestry Commission (FC), responsible for forestry in the UK, including administration of the Woodland Carbon Code, a voluntary code providing consistency, clarity and transparency in the accounting of woodland carbon projects.3. Moor Trees, a charitable organisation dedicated to re-foresting Dartmoor with native trees and enabling people to re-engage with trees and natural environments.4. Treeconomics, a social enterprise specialising in measuring and valuing the benefits of urban trees. Their mission is to raise awareness of the value of trees and woodlands as natural assets through engaging local people, businesses and public bodies in their projects.5. GeoSmart Information Ltd, a data and services company that supports sustainable development together with a range of data products and innovative subscription services in areas of groundwater flood risk and sustainable drainage systems. NEVO will be co-developed with this set of project partners ensuring their direct input in deciding upon the nature of the user interface, which variables users have control over in querying the model and how the outputs are visualised and recorded. The project builds upon sophisticated models from NERC-funded natural and economic science including the National Ecosystem Assessment Follow On (NEA-FO) project and a Valuing Nature Network placement grant scoping user needs for natural capital tools. Moreover the project will build on the research team's experience delivering the Defra-funded proto-type Outdoor Recreation Valuation tool which has proved the feasibility of creating map-based web applications for natural capital valuation which are accessible to a broad audience (http://leep.exeter.ac.uk/ORVal).Keywords: natural environment, valuation, carbon, recreation, tool, mapping, web-based,