ADVANCES (ADVancing Analysis of Natural Capital in LandscapE DecisionS)

自然资本是一个经济体资源存量的基本组成部分，人类的健康、福祉和财富都依赖于此。经济增长和发展取决于经济的总资本存量，其中包括生产资本（即工厂、发电站、基础设施）;人力资本（即人）;社会资本（即社交网络和社区）;以及自然资本（即景观、土壤、水、空气和生态系统等资产）。自然资本和其他形式的资本相结合，为社会提供了所谓的生态系统服务，而这些服务反过来又提供了各种好处。对人民的惠益包括：授粉和粮食供应;供水、净化和防洪;碳储存;以及娱乐和舒适体验。如果生态系统服务的流动有助于更清洁的水/空气、更公平的气候，将自然资本评估纳入公共和私营部门的决策，这是因为它允许比较可能提高或降低环境质量的潜在政策或项目，为社会提供的商品和服务。然而，虽然自然资本方法的原则现在已被广泛接受（例如，它们是英国政府2018年发布的25年环境计划的关键特征），但其实际应用面临着许多挑战。这些因素包括政策或管理行动的效果因地点或规模而异的方式，改善一种效益的干预措施可能对另一种效益产生负面影响的方式（即权衡），估计这种变化的规模所涉及的不确定性，某些类型的惠益（如与粮食生产有关的惠益）比其他惠益（如景观带来的享受）更容易衡量。在英国政府提议引入新的农业和环境政策，以及土地使用的其他改变（如新房屋建设或增加使用可再生能源）和气候变化影响的背景下，应对这些挑战尤为重要。因此，该项目寻求开发更好的基于计算机的优化和统计工具，以评估自然资本的变化。它将通过一组研究人员之间的合作来做到这一点，这些研究人员以前曾研究过英国能源系统变化对自然资本的影响，而应用数学家可以为所涉及的问题提供更先进的定量技能。该项目还将涉及来自政府部门，企业和其他与土地管理和自然保护有关的组织的代表，以帮助确保该项目产生的调查结果和建模技术与他们的需求相关，并最终更好地制定未来的决策。

Natural Capital is a fundamental component of an economy's stock of resources upon which human health, well-being and wealth depend. Economic growth and development are conditioned by the economy's overall capital stock which includes produced capital (i.e. factories, power stations, infrastructure); human capital (i.e. people); social capital (i.e. social networks and communities); and natural capital (i.e. assets such as landscapes, soils, water, air and ecosystems). The combination of natural capital and other forms of capital provides society with so-called ecosystem services, and these, in turn, supply a variety of benefits. The flows of benefits to people include: pollination and food supply; water supply, purification and flood protection; carbon storage; and recreation and amenity experiences. Individual and societal health and well-being are enhanced where the flow of ecosystem services contributes to cleaner water/air, more equitable climates, recreation experiences and cultural enrichment.It is increasingly common to incorporate assessments of natural capital into public and private sector decision-making because it allows comparison of potential policies or projects that may enhance or degrade the environment in terms of changes in the quantities of the goods and services provided to society. However, while the principles of the natural capital approach are now well-accepted (e.g. they are a key feature of the 25 Year Environment Plan published by the UK Government in 2018) its practical application faces a number of challenges. These include the way in which the effect of policies or management actions can vary by location or scale, the manner in which interventions to improve one benefit may have negative impacts on another (i.e. a trade-off), the uncertainties involved in estimating the size of such changes, and that some types of benefits (e.g. related to food production) are more straightforward to measure than others (e.g. the enjoyment provided by landscape views). Addressing these challenges is particularly important in the context of UK government proposals to introduce new agricultural and environmental policies, as well as other alterations in land use (such as new house building or increased use of renewable energy) and the impacts of climate change. This project therefore seeks to develop better computer-based optimisation and statistical tools to assess changes in natural capital. It will do this through collaborations between a team of researchers who have previously investigated the implications of changes in the UK energy system for natural capital, and applied mathematicians who can contribute more advanced quantitative skills to the problems involved. The project will also involve representatives from government departments, businesses and other organisations concerned with land management and nature conservation in order to help ensure that the findings and modelling techniques produced by the project are relevant to their needs and ultimately better future decision-making about the UK Landscape.