50 - Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent : Natural Capital and Key Ecosystem Services

Introduction

The Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent NCA provide 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 Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent 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:
 

• 8: Derbyshire

Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply)

Water availability: Outlying ridges are separated by numerous river valleys with their sources outside the area, in the Pennines. The River Derwent is the NCA’s largest river, flowing through the heart of the area in a deep valley, helping to drain the Peak District’s large volume of rainwater. The rivers all follow meandering routes along broad valley bottoms where many mills have historically been located, as at Belper. Towards the north of the area, smaller, fast-flowing brooks have been dammed to harness water power for local mills. Major reservoirs – Carsington Water and Ogston Reservoir – have been created to supply compensatory water to the rivers at times of low flow. Other significant rivers include the Amber and Ecclesbourne. 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 water flow: The rivers in this NCA flow into the River Trent and then out to sea via the Humber. The Environment Agency flood risk map indicates a risk of flooding in the south of the NCA, around Duffield and Belper, and also in and around Derby (which is just outside the NCA). Reservoirs were constructed to provide water for the Derwent in times of low flow so that water supply could be maintained; there are opportunities to manage flow still further, through the creation of woodland upstream and through water storage in flood plains.

Cultural services (inspiration, education and wellbeing)

Sense of place/inspiration: This is a transitional zone between the Peak District National Park and the industrialised urban areas of the Derbyshire Coal Measures, and also between lowland and upland England. A sense of place arises from the undulating, pastoral nature of this landscape; the numerous Millstone Grit ridges are separated by valleys, which form key features in this rural landscape – the largest is the significantly wooded valley of the River Derwent. The heart of this NCA is the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, whose architecture, historic settlements, wider landscape, watercourses, canals and wooded valleys particularly characterise the area.

Sense of history: A sense of history begins with bronze-age burial mounds and continues through Roman roads (including Ryknild Street, skirting the eastern boundary of the NCA), medieval moated sites and settlements, and a strong association with the Industrial Revolution. This is not a village landscape, but an area of scattered farmsteads that have carved out an existence from a former wooded landscape. Woodland assarts are a key feature of this landscape, as reflected in the many irregular field patterns. The international importance of this area has been recognised by the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, which celebrates the mills’ contribution to the Industrial Revolution.

Tranquillity: The less developed rural areas are particularly important in conveying a sense of tranquillity – in particular in the south-west, around Carsington Water, and also in the upland wooded valleys. Localised impacts on tranquillity are associated with the urban fringe around Chesterfield, and larger towns like Matlock and Darley Dale.

Recreation: This NCA is an important visitor attraction for local urban communities, such as Derby, but it also attracts visitors from much further afield. Carsington Water and Cromford Canal are huge recreational draws. There is a good network of rights of way, as well as some open access land. There are opportunities for both active and less intensive outdoor pursuits, as a consequence of the area’s landscape character, mixed habitats and relatively extensive woodland resource. Recreational opportunities and activity within this NCA can be important in diverting visitor pressure from the Peak District National Park.

Biodiversity: Ogston Reservoir is of major importance for bird passage migrants. Mires and swamps with concentrations of sedges, lousewort and marsh pennywort are occasionally to be found along the river valleys. Cromford Canal SSSI is important for grass snakes, water shrews, hoverflies, and submerged and emergent water plants. Shining Cliff Woods SSSI and Crich Chase SSSI are a valuable part of the important semi-natural oak woodlands lining much of the Lower Derwent Valley.

Geodiversity: Much of the area has seen evidence of industrial activity, with people either extracting or utilising geological resources. These activities have included coal, lead and ironstone mining, glass making, and limestone and gritstone quarrying. The geomorphology of the area – especially its rivers – has been of vital industrial and historic importance, providing the energy to power the mills of the Industrial Revolution. The use of local vernacular building stone for mills and settlements (for example gritstone cottages) has greatly shaped the character of the area.