13 - South East Northumberland Coastal Plain : Natural Capital and Key Ecosystem Services

Introduction

The South East Northumberland Coastal Plain 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 South East Northumberland Coastal Plain 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:
 

• 27: North of Tyne

Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply)

Food provision: This is a mixed farming landscape with arable farming, livestock fattening and dairying. Cereals and oilseed rape are grown within the NCA as are some root crops including potatoes and sugar beet. Fishing fleets operate from Amble Harbour and the Port of Blyth. The provision of local food, particularly fish and seafood, has the potential to play an important role in attracting tourism to the area.

Water availability: The NCA does not overlay any major aquifers. Principal surface water resources within the NCA are the lower reaches of the River Coquet (along the NCA’s northern border), the River Wansbeck and the River Blyth, which all form part of the Northumberland Rivers Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy (CAMS) area. The predominant (80 per cent) use of abstracted water is domestic water supply, followed by industrial and commercial (11 per cent). The River Coquet is the greatest source of abstracted water in the CAMS area and the Lower Coquet is the only catchment within the NCA categorised as ‘over licensed’, all others having ‘water available’ status. 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: The soils of the NCA generally have low carbon content (0-5 per cent). In addition, carbon storage is provided by the 3,500 ha of woodland within the NCA (8 per cent of its area) and its underlying humus-rich soils. Carbon storage may also be available from limited areas of other carbon-rich habitats in the NCA where soils have remained undisturbed for a long period, including unimproved grassland, lowland heathland, wetland, and coastal and flood plain grazing marsh. The carbon storage of arable soils could be improved by increasing organic matter content.

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 coastal flooding and erosion: The present coastline comprises well-defined and relatively stable bays, backed by dunes or slowly eroding glacial deposits and held by harder headlands or areas of rock exposed over the foreshore. Rates of coastal erosion are relatively low, although more significant coastal change could arise from sea level changes. Particular areas at risk of coastal flooding as a result of coastal erosion and/or sea level rise, with consequent impacts on the natural and human environment, are in the Lynemouth area and in the settlement of Blyth. River flood risk in Warkworth is also influenced by the tide. Coastal habitats are important flood defences in terms of dissipating wave energy. 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: A sense of place is provided by a strong history of mining and reclamation which has resulted in a landscape of industrial and urban character, interspersed with large, regular arable fields and occasional pasture land, prominent blocks of mixed or coniferous woodland on reclaimed spoil heaps, deciduous woodland on steep-sided valleys and within estate parklands, country parks, Local Nature Reserves, local green spaces and institutional establishments. This inland landscape contrasts with rich mudflats, salt marshes, expansive stretches of sandy beaches and dunes, and small rocky peninsulas along the coastline. Feelings of inspiration and escapism are likely to be associated with the expansive views and seascapes along the coast and estuaries, particularly in the less developed areas to the north.

Sense of history: The sense of history is very much influenced by the settlement patterns, building style and infrastructure associated with the mining industry of the 18th and 19th centuries. There are many estates and country houses built using profits from the coal industry, including Gosforth Park, High Gosforth, Seaton Delaval and Blagdon, with exotic specimen trees and plantations, and large institutional buildings in open countryside. Historic character is further influenced by distinctive features such as defensive structures from the First and Second World Wars, and earlier against raids from the north, as well as Mesolithic sites along the coast.

Tranquillity: The NCA has experienced a sharp decline in tranquillity levels since the 1960s, although valuable areas of tranquillity remain around Druridge Bay and west of Widdrington. Characteristics of the landscape that are particularly important in conveying a sense of tranquillity are the semi-natural deciduous woodlands, largely confined to river valleys, mudflats and salt marshes along the River Blyth, and some areas of urban greenspace.

Recreation: The NCA offers a network of rights of way but only limited areas of open access land. There are gaps in the current network, particularly for bridleways, and some footpaths reach dead ends as a result of development or uncrossable rivers. There is good provision for cyclists, with a number of cycle tracks linking some of the main settlements. The main strategic cycling route passing through the area is the Coast and Castles cycle route linking Tynemouth with Berwick-upon-Tweed. Popular recreation sites include: Gosforth Park, the setting for Newcastle racecourse; and seven country parks, for example Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, Druridge Bay, Wansbeck Riverside Park, Ashington and Bedlington. Recreation is further supported by the area’s other green spaces, such as Ashington Community Woodland, and urban parks, where people have opportunities to engage with nature close to where they live. The sea is a particular asset for water-based recreation, and there are seven designated bathing waters.

Biodiversity: Coastal and estuarine habitats are of particular biodiversity value and are protected by numerous national and European designations. They support internationally important populations of breeding roseate tern and nationally important populations of a number of species including Arctic tern and Sandwich tern. They are also of international importance for wintering purple sandpiper and turnstone. Wetlands, grasslands, rivers, ponds and small areas of native woodland are also valuable for wildlife. The high proportion of ex mining sites provides many opportunities to create new habitats, particularly grassland, woodland and wetland, thereby strengthening the habitat network and providing movement corridors and new sites for vulnerable species.