KE Fellowship: Delivering Multifunctional Natural Capital Approaches for Future Coasts

英国拥有漫长的沉积海岸线和以广阔的盐沼和泥滩为特征的大型河口。这些环境为社会提供了重要的功能(称为生态系统服务)：鸟类、无脊椎动物和鱼类将它们用作觅食场所和托儿所，生活在沉积物中的微生物清理从我们的河流和污水处理厂流下的水，盐沼储存碳(因此有助于缓解气候变化)并吸收海浪和潮汐的力量，保护我们的海岸线免受洪水侵袭。然而，这些栖息地受到气候变化的威胁，特别是海平面上升(到2105年英格兰东南部海平面可能上升到+1米)和不断变化的天气模式。我们知道，如果我们能够增加这些栖息地(统称为“自然资本”的特征)的面积、质量和生物多样性，它们就可以继续提供生态系统服务，并对气候变化的影响具有更强的适应能力。不幸的是，许多生态系统健康指标显示出负面趋势，因此需要改变沿海机构的政策和提供的服务。英国政府已经认识到这一点，并制定了一项25年环境计划来改善我们的自然世界。在这个项目中，该研究员将与环境署、地方当局(县和区议会)以及当地团体(沿海论坛)合作，以尽可能好的科学为基础，制定与自然共事的方法(称为基于自然的解决方案)，并恢复和恢复我们的沿海栖息地。这需要融合新的工具和理解来衡量自然资本资产(有多少自然资本资产，以及它做了什么)，以及新的政策和监管方法，以增加自然资本，并获得健康和多产的沿海生境所能提供的多重好处。政策、法规和执行方面的这些变化必须得到居住在沿海地区的当地社区的理解和支持：这些社区与未来息息相关，他们制定或影响管理决策。因此，知识交流研究员将在国家一级与环境署的政策和研究小组合作，也将与地方环境局小组、地方当局以及地方河口和沿海小组合作。建立对自然资本的性质和价值的理解，以及增加自然资本如何对社会和环境产生多重好处，是实现英国25年环境计划抱负的关键，将有助于应对气候变化的挑战，实现碳净零，并解决生物多样性危机。

The U.K. has long stretches of sedimentary shorelines and large estuaries that are characterised by extensive salt marshes and mudflats. These environments provide important functions (called ecosystem services) for society: birds, invertebrates and fish use them as feeding grounds and nurseries, micro-organisms living in the sediments clean up water coming down our rivers and from sewage treatment works, and salt marshes store carbon (so helping to mitigate climate change) and absorb the force of waves and tides, protecting our coastlines from flooding. Yet these habitats are threatened by climate change, especially by rises in sea level (potentially up to +1 m by 2105 in south east England) and changing weather patterns. We know that if we can increase the area and quality and biodiversity of these habitats (features collectively termed "natural capital"), they can continue to provide their ecosystem services, and be more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Unfortunately, many of the indicators of ecosystem health are showing negative trends, so a change in policy and deliver by agencies on the coast is needed. The U.K. Government has recognised this, and has a 25 Year Environment Plan to improve our natural world. In this project, the Fellow will work with the Environment Agency, and with local authorities (County and District councils) and with local groups (coastal forums) to develop approaches, based on the best possible science, for working with nature (called nature-based solutions) and to restore and recover our coastal habitats. This requires a blend of new tools and understanding to measure natural capital assets (how much is there, and what it does), and new policy and regulatory approaches to increase natural capital and gain the multiple benefits that healthy and productive coastal habitats can provide. These changes in policy, regulation and implementation have to take place with the understanding and support of local communities living on the coast: people who have a stake in the future and who make, or influence, management decisions. The Knowledge Exchange Fellow will thus work both at a national level with policy and research teams in the Environment Agency, but also with local area Environment Agency teams, and Local Authorities, and local estuary and coastal groups. Building understanding on the nature and value of natural capital, and how increasing natural capital can have multiple benefits to society and the environment, is key to delivering of the U.K. aspirations in their 25 Year Environment Plan, and will contribute to meeting the challenges of climate change, reaching Carbon Net Zero, and addressing the Biodiversity crisis.