National Character Area 10
North Pennines - Natural Capital and Key Ecosystem Services
Introduction
The North Pennines 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 North Pennines NCA is contained in the ‘Analysis’ section of this website.
Note: The natural capital in this NCA is mapped below. This displays more recent national and publicly available data sets as used within Natural England’s 2020 Natural Capital Atlas Profiles.
The predominant ecosystem services in this NCA are also summarised below. The text contained in this section is based on the previous NCA profiles in 2014, and so is not entirely current. Further information on ecosystem services provided in the North Northumberland Coastal Plain NCA is contained in the Analysis: Ecosystem Services page 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:
- 7: Cumbria
- 26: North East and Tees Valley Combined Authorities
- 27: North of Tyne
- 28: North Yorkshire and York
Note that numbers and figures in the body of the text are based on the 2014 profiles, unless otherwise stated.
Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply)
Food provision: Agriculture is limited by the climate, topography and soils, with 94 per cent of the land classified as grade 4 or However, the area is important for rearing hardy hill livestock, with high numbers of sheep and cattle.
Timber provision: Timber is produced from 6,663 ha of coniferous plantations, while the production of wood fuel could be increased by bringing more of the small, broadleaved woodlands and plantations under management.
Water availability: With its high rainfall and impervious rocks, this upland block is an important catchment for the Tyne, Wear and Tees, and has several large reservoirs, such as Derwent, Cow Green, Grassholme, Balderhead and The area provides water for both domestic and industrial use downstream in Tyneside, Wearside, Teesside and Carlisle. 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: Peaty soils with a high carbon content cover 62 per cent of the area, and underlie blanket bog, upland heath and mires, while humus-rich soils cover a further 5 per Appropriate management of the moorlands, including encouraging active peat formation and re-vegetating bare peat, can improve carbon capture, as can extending woodland cover. Low-input extensive livestock systems can reduce the amount of artificial fertiliser used, while increasing the organic content of the soils.
Regulating soil erosion: The extensive peaty soils are prone to wind and water Sediment run-off can be reduced by ensuring good vegetative cover on blanket bog and heather moorland. In the dales, maintaining a good protective cover of vegetation, such as permanent grassland, scrub or woodland – particularly on steep gill sides and alongside watercourses – will protect soils from erosion and reduce sediment run-off.
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 greatest risks from river flooding are downstream, in urban locations in Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside, and also in Improving land management practices, taking steps to reduce run-off from the land and slow the flow of floodwaters – for example by restoring vegetation cover on peat, creating woodlands and expanding wetlands and flood storage areas in the dales – will benefit the many settlements downstream.
Cultural services (inspiration, education and wellbeing)
Sense of place/inspiration: The North Pennines provide one of the most remote and wild experiences in England, the expansive open moorlands contrasting with the more sheltered dales, with their meadows, pastures and drystone walls, villages and dispersed farmsteads all built in local stone. This distinctive landscape has a strong sense of place and cultural continuity, based on its long history of farming and mining. There are cultural associations with many writers and artists, including W.H. Auden and J.M.W. Turner. The protection and enhancement of the area’s special qualities is of primary importance, as 88 per cent of the area is designated as an AONB.
Sense of history: This is portrayed in the rich time depth of historic heritage, from bronze-age field systems to the subsistence miner-farmer landscape, with its wealth of evidence of mining In particular, the area has great potential for revealing evidence of historic land uses, especially on the moorland, due to the lack of cultivation and development. Historic features, and those areas with a high integrity of features related to these, should be protected and interpreted to reveal the continuity and connections between the geology, the history of man’s activities and today’s landscape.
Tranquillity: The North Pennines have high levels of tranquillity, with their low population, few villages and roads, a lack of development, open moorlands and quiet Development and light sources need to be controlled to maintain the tranquillity and dark night-time skies.
Recreation: There are extensive areas of open access land on the moorlands, covering 61 per cent of the There is also a good network of rights of way, with three national trails and forests that provide a range of recreational opportunities. In addition to walking, there are a range of sites available for informal countryside recreation such as cycling, fishing, canoeing, wildlife watching, caving, grouse shooting, eco- and geotourism and heritage tourism.
Biodiversity: The North Pennines are internationally recognised as very important for arctic-alpine flora, upland moorland habitats, limestone grasslands, hay meadows, woodlands, becks and rivers, with their associated Some 46 per cent of the area is designated as an SPA, for its biodiversity value. The range of habitats supports some iconic birds as curlews, black grouse, ring ouzel and several raptors, which are a key attraction to visitors.
Geodiversity: With its dramatic landforms, intrusions of hard Whin Sill rock and long history of mineral exploitation, the North Pennines NCA is internationally important for its geodiversity, and has been awarded UNESCO European and Global Geopark status.
