Integrating ecosystem services into environmental decision‐making

Natural capital describes the stock of renewable and non-renewable natural resources available to society. From this flows ecosystem services, which are the societal benefits derived from natural capital. These highly influential ways of thinking about environmental management have been the subject of much debate among practitioners and academic ecologists. However, they have gained significant traction in key national environmental policy documents, including the Natural Environment White Paper and the 25 Year Environment Plan, policies in the devolved administrations, such as the Environment Wales Act (2016), and the establishment of the Natural Capital Committee. The UK is the first country (and still one of the few) to produce a national ecosystem assessment (UKNEA, 2011), in response to the global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005). The original classification proposed in the MEA (of supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural services) has been extended by the hierarchical classification of the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES, 2018).