58 - Merseyside Conurbation : Natural Capital and Key Ecosystem Services

Introduction

The Merseyside Conurbation 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 Merseyside Conurbation 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:
 

• 5: Cheshire
• 21: Lancashire
• 24: Liverpool City Region

Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply)

Water availability: The high urban demand for water and development pressures mean that the sustainable use of water is important in this area. Much of the Merseyside conurbation’s water comes from the ‘integrated resource zone’ which includes sources outside this NCA (for example, Lake Vyrnwy and the River Dee in Wales). The Merseyside Conurbation NCA overlays major sandstone aquifers, with groundwater abstractions for public water supply in the Mersey area. Surface water abstraction within the Lower Mersey area is heavily dominated by industrial abstraction. There are no surface water abstractions for public water supply within the Lower Mersey area, primarily due to water quality issues. Water is abstracted in the Alt catchment from both surface and groundwater sources, for a variety of purposes including public and private water supply. 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)

Climate regulation: High-density urban areas such as those found in the Merseyside Conurbation NCA are potentially vulnerable to heat island and warming effects. The coastal location of the NCA provides it with the benefits of ‘cooling sea breezes’ in managing heat island effects. Adaptation can increase the resilience of the urban environment to the changing climate – for example, the provision of vegetation can cool and shade urban environments as well as providing green space and green routes close to where people live. The Mersey Estuary contains rich silts and muds which may act as a carbon sink.

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: The extensive built-up areas of the towns, roads and industrial areas create impervious surfaces that cause water to run off land more quickly. Improving permeability in urban and industrial areas through providing green spaces can improve infiltration rates. There is tidal flood risk at several locations along the Mersey Estuary and around the Wirral Peninsula, which can arise from high water levels and wave action, together with the funnelling of water into the estuary from onshore winds. There are tidal defences for many of the areas at risk.

Regulating coastal flooding and erosion: Coastal habitats have a key role to play in providing for coastal protection as well as a recreation and leisure resource that may come under increasing visitor pressure as the climate changes. The retention of habitats – including mudflats/sand flats, salt marshes and sand dunes – can provide a cost-effective defence against erosion/flooding. The northern Wirral coastline is significantly influenced by the Dee and Mersey estuaries at either end of the frontage. Sand dunes nd the environmentally designated wide sandy foreshore have formed along the length of the frontage, providing natural protection to coastal settlements, including Wallasey and New Brighton. For information regarding current shoreline management within this NCA, refer to the Environment Agency (Shoreline management plans).

Cultural services (inspiration, education and wellbeing)

Sense of place/inspiration: Sense of place is dominated by the River Mersey and its historic waterfront. The conurbation has experienced new growth through leisure and tourism developments with Liverpool nominated as the European Capital of Culture in 2008. While most of the area is urban, there are isolated pockets of green infrastructure. The natural heritage, Mersey Estuary, coastline, woodlands, parks and urban green spaces are important as recreational areas being close to where people live, as well as providing valuable wildlife corridors, contributing to providing a sense of place and providing opportunities for people to have contact with the natural world. Wildlife-rich areas can help to reconnect urban populations with the natural environment close to where they live, and allow them to enjoy the health and social rewards it affords them.

Sense of history: Renowned for its strong maritime history, the Merseyside Conurbation NCA’s history is integral to its importance as an international visitor destination. Many heritage assets are accessible. Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City was given World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. Wirral’s heritage includes the industrial landscape, based around steelworks and ship-building, and the villages built to provide housing for factory workers. There are a number of parklands associated with country houses such as Croxteth and Bowring, and the Grade 1 listed Victorian parks of Sefton and Birkenhead.

Tranquillity: Tranquillity is not a feature typically identified with this largely urban NCA. A sense of tranquillity may nevertheless still be associated with some of the area’s parks, green spaces and in some locations along the waterfronts and coastline. These open spaces provide important, highly valued pockets of tranquillity locally. In among the urban areas, pockets of tranquillity can provide sensory environments which have a calming and restorative effect on people’s health and wellbeing.

Recreation: In extensive urban areas, local green spaces provide opportunities for people to engage with nature close to where they live and work. The NCA’s wide sandy frontage, with its associated paths and promenades, provides opportunities for recreation and is well used, as do the area’s public parks and green spaces. Local woodlands and the Mersey Forest have generated local interest to increase woodland and other habitats, and have created wildlife corridors and access for people. Local Nature Reserves and country parks also provide opportunities for people to enjoy the natural environment. The Liverpool City Region Green Infrastructure Framework noted that, in some areas, there is a lack of green infrastructure open to the public.

Biodiversity: There are internationally important sites around the Mersey Estuary, with extensive intertidal mud/sand flats and wide coastal frontages found along the open coast. Inland, a network of green infrastructure is interspersed around and through this largely urban area. Local Wildlife Sites, Local Nature Reserves, parks, cemeteries, gardens, golf courses, allotments and previously used land, such as landfill sites and former railway land, are all important refuges for wildlife. Merseyside is an area of high habitat fragmentation, although a number of notable species have colonised the urban environment.