33 - Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill : Natural Capital and Key Ecosystem Services

Introduction

The Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill NCA provides a wide range of benefits to society. Each is derived from the attributes and processes (both natural and cultural features) within the area. These benefits are known collectively as ‘ecosystem services’. The predominant services are summarised below. Further information on ecosystem services provided in the Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill NCA is contained in the ‘Analysis’ section of this website.

What is Natural Capital?

Natural capital means “the elements of nature that directly or indirectly produce value to people, including ecosystems, species, freshwater, land, minerals, the air and oceans, as well as natural processes and functions” (Natural Capital Committee, 2017).

It is helpful to consider natural capital in the form of a logic chain that represents the links between ecosystem assets, services, benefits and value to people. The figure below displays that logic chain. The quantity and quality of ecosystem assets (woodland, bogs, etc) support different types of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration or water filtration. These ecosystem services then provide different benefits to society, providing value for people. The figure also shows how management interventions, as well as pressures and drivers of change, influence this chain. Other capital inputs are also often needed for people to obtain the benefits from ecosystem services (a simple example is the processing of trees to produce wood products).

As an example, an area of woodland (ecosystem asset) may reduce air pollution created by traffic on a nearby road. This woodland is therefore improving air quality (ecosystem service) in the local area which results in cleaner air and improved health in the adjacent residential street (benefit). This cleaner air has a value because we know it impacts the health and wellbeing of communities.

Sometimes for ease of understanding, economic framing is used to give these benefits a monetary value. The figure below shows how natural capital assets support the provision of ecosystem services, benefits and value. The roots of the tree show how aspects of asset quality are critical to the provision of ecosystem services. The roots also show that geodiversity underpins the ecosystem assets and therefore the ecosystem services and benefits they can provide. It is important to remember that this diagram, and natural capital frameworks more generally, are a simplification of how nature works in practice.

Natural Capital within this NCA

In 2018, Natural England published ‘Natural Capital Indicators: for defining and measuring change in natural capital’ (Lusardi et al., 2018). This report identified key properties of the natural environment vital for the long-term sustainability of benefits, which can act as indicators of change.

These indicators are designed to inform our understanding of the state of our natural assets. The indicators highlight the importance of our natural assets for delivering which ecosystem service and the benefits they provide for society. The indicators and datasets identified in Natural England’s Natural Capital Indicators Project provide the foundation for the Natural Capital Atlas Profiles.

Natural England’s Natural Capital Atlas Profiles provide an “off the shelf” natural capital evidence base for each county or city region. They have a wide variety of uses with more information in the How to Start Using Your Natural Capital Atlas.

The Natural Capital indicators are presented on the map below by broad asset theme, displaying the natural capital within the NCA.

It is noted that not all indicators listed within the Natural Capital Atlas Profiles are included within the map as data is not yet available to measure them. Refer to the “Indicator Gaps and Limitations” of the Natural Capital Atlas Profiles for further information.

Natural Capital Atlas Profiles

The following Natural Capital Atlas Profiles cover counties within this NCA:
 

• 21: Lancashire
• 28: North Yorkshire and York

Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply)

Food provision: The Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill area is important for rearing livestock. Many traditional farming practices are still employed here, providing a food resource from the sustainable rearing of sheep and cattle. Locally sourced food also plays an increasingly important role in supporting tourism in the area, and in the process helps to encourage Bowland’s green economy.

Timber provision: Some 7 per cent of the area is woodland, and a quarter of this is coniferous plantation. Several large blocks of conifer plantation are present, mainly in the south and north-west, some of which are managed for productive timber. There are opportunities for local woodland products, including wood fuel, from both the conifer and broadleaved under-managed woodlands.

Water availability: Principal surface water resources within the NCA are the catchments of the rivers Lune, Wyre and Ribble. Abstraction is mainly for public water supply, industry, aquaculture, energy generation and topping up the Lancaster Canal. For information regarding the current state of water availability within this NCA, refer to the Environment Agency (Abstraction Licensing Strategy).

Regulating services (water purification, air quality maintenance and climate regulation)

Regulating climate change: In this NCA, soil carbon levels are generally low (between 0 per cent and 5 per cent), reflecting the mineral soils that cover 72 per cent of the area. Small areas of higher soil carbon adjoin the peaty upland area of the Bowland Fells. These soils store significant volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Degraded peat bogs release stored carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and through water run-off. Sustainable management of blanket bog and other moorland habitats provides an opportunity to safeguard existing stores of greenhouse gases while sequestering increased volumes from the atmosphere. Soil carbon levels will also be high under areas of woodland, and carbon storage and sequestering is provided by the woodland itself.

Regulating soil erosion: Almost a third of this NCA has a high risk of soil erosion. The slowly permeable, wet, very acid upland soils with a peaty surface often found on the moorland plateau tops are at risk of gullying or hagging (and of losing particulate organic matter) where the surface vegetation is damaged, highly modified or lost. Drainage of these soils may also result in increased oxidation of carbon and soil wastage. Erosion is equally prevalent on the very acid, loamy upland soils with a wet peaty surface often found on steep slopes, where a combination of rapid run-off and easily damaged peat layers results in soil erosion. The freely-draining, slightly acid, loamy soils and the lighter-textured (less clayey) variants of freely-draining, lime-rich, loamy soils can erode easily on steep slopes – especially where vegetation is removed, soil is compacted or organic matter levels are low after continuous cultivation. There is also potential for wind erosion on some coarse-textured, cultivated variants of the former soil type.

Regulating soil quality: Over 70 per cent of this NCA may be subject to soil quality issues. The slowly permeable, seasonally wet, acid loamy and clayey soils may suffer compaction and/or capping, as they are easily damaged when wet. In turn, this may lead to increasingly poor water infiltration and diffuse pollution as a result of surface water run-off. Conversely, the slowly permeable, wet, very acid upland soils with a peaty surface are at risk of a loss of organic matter through drought induced by a changing climate and soil erosion.

Regulating water quality:For information regarding the current state of water quality within this NCA, refer to the Environment Agency (Draft river basin management plan maps).

Regulating water flow (flooding): This NCA envelops the higher land mass that forms the Bowland Fells, and contains the middle part of the rivers that drain that upland area, with its steep topography and narrow flood plains. This, combined with waterlogged moorland soils and high rainfall, produces watercourses that respond rapidly to rainfall, increasing fluvial flood risk.

Cultural services (inspiration, education and wellbeing)

Sense of place/inspiration: This NCA forms part of the Forest of Bowland AONB, designated in 1964 because the landscape was thought to be of national importance and worthy of protection. A sense of place is provided by the undulating, rolling landscape that skirts the edge of the Bowland Fells, forming a dramatic backdrop. There are sharp variations in the local landscape resulting from the river valleys and numerous small hills. There are also strong contrasts between the area’s traditional farmsteads and settlements (which include evidence of textile working), a small number of industrial settlements, and country houses usually set within extensive, semi-natural woodland and well-maintained formal parkland. The landscape is intensively managed and largely of permanent, improved pasture for dairy and livestock farming, with small to medium-sized herb-rich hay meadows defined by well-maintained hedgerows with mature hedgerow trees, and rough grazing at higher levels. Woodland forms a significant landscape element within the area.

Sense of history: The enclosed landscape – with its legacy of farmsteads, medieval to post-medieval irregular fields, and regular enclosures from moorland of the 19th century – is testament to settlement and land use from the medieval period onwards. Apart from the extensive evidence of medieval settlement and land use, a much earlier development from the pre-Roman period is evident in the many archaeological sites – particularly on the moorland fringes and in valleys, where agriculture has been less intensive, as well as in corridors like the Ribble and Lune valleys, which were important routes from the Roman period onwards (small motte-and-bailey castles being found in the latter). A small number of industrial terraced settlements are characteristic of the Calder Vale, while lead-mining remains and derelict lime kilns are found in the Ribble Valley.

Tranquillity: This NCA is important for the tranquillity it provides: 76 per cent of the area was classified as ‘undisturbed’ by the Campaign to Protect Rural England in 2007, although this is a significant decrease from the figure of 92 per cent recorded in the 1960s. The lowest areas of tranquillity lie along the major road corridors such as the M6, A65 and A59, as well as around the towns of Clitheroe and Longridge. A sense of tranquillity is likely to be most associated with the wooded river valleys, as well as with the parklands, picturesque villages and hamlets on undulating lowland farmland, and with some small-scale and intimate landscapes in the Lune and Ribble valleys. These areas help to deliver health and wellbeing benefits to all of their visitors: the natural environment provides areas of relative tranquillity and sensory experience for meditation and relaxation, which in turn has a calming and restorative effect and helps to improve mental wellbeing.

Recreation: This is supported by the Pennine Bridleway (19 km of which lies in this NCA). There are 1,537 km of rights of way, with a density of 2 km per km². Open access land covers 6.4 per cent of the NCA (4,728 ha). Cycling continues to be popular, with increasing opportunities for off-roading along bridleways. Road cycling is also popular, especially on the designated ‘quiet lanes’ around Chipping and Downham, and as part of the more challenging Tour of Pendle race. There are opportunities for horse riding along the network of greenways and bridleways. Other popular activities include birdwatching, fishing, gliding and shooting. In addition, there is a developing network of tramper trails that are suitable for people using off-road mobility scooters and pushchairs. The ability to access green spaces has been demonstrated to encourage contact with nature and participation in physical activity – both of which encourage the adoption of other healthy lifestyle choices such as social engagement and consumption of healthy foods.

Biodiversity: Priority habitats cover 6,000 ha (8 per cent) of the NCA and include 1,700 ha of upland heathland and smaller areas of a variety of woodland, grassland and riverine priority habitats. The NCA contains two Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and one Special Protection Area (SPA), and 2,300 ha (3 per cent of the NCA) are nationally designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Geodiversity: There are currently six nationally designated geological sites within the NCA. These consist mainly of river sections and exposures, along with one of the best examples of knoll reefs in northern England, making up the Clitheroe Knoll Reefs SSSI. The 25 Local Geological Sites include examples of river channels and sections, glacial and fluvio-glacial landforms, disused quarries and ancient coal workings.