Healthy Ecosystems Cumbria a Landscape Enterprise Networks Opportunity Analysis
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1 Healthy Ecosystems Cumbria A Landscape Enterprise Networks opportunity analysis Making Landscapes work for Business and Society Message LENs: Making landscapes 1 work for business and society This document sets out a new way in which businesses can work together to influence the assets in their local landscape that matter to their bottom line. It’s called the Landscape Enterprise Networks or ‘LENs’ Approach, and has been developed in partnership by BITC, Nestlé and 3Keel. Underpinning the LENs approach is a systematic understanding of businesses’ landscape dependencies. This is based on identifying: LANDSCAPE LANDSCAPE FUNCTIONS ASSETS The outcomes that beneficiaries The features and depend on from the landscape in characteristics LANDSCAPE order to be able to operate their in a landscape that underpin BENEFICIARIES businesses. These are a subset the delivery of those functions. Organisations that are of ecosystem services, in that These are like natural capital, dependent on the they are limited to functions in only no value is assigned to landscape. This is the which beneficiaries have them beyond the price ‘market’. sufficient commercial interest to beneficiaries are willing to pay make financial investments in to secure the landscape order to secure them. functions that the Natural Asset underpins. Funded by: It provides a mechanism It moves on from It pulls together coalitions It provides a mechanism Benefits 1 for businesses to start 2 theoretical natural capital 3 of common interest, 4 for ‘next generation’ intervening to landscape- valuations, to identify pooling resources to share diversification in the rural of LENs derived risk in their real-world value propositions the cost of land management economy - especially ‘backyards’; and transactions; interventions; relevant post-Brexit. Making landscapes work for business 2 and society in Cumbria Cumbria is renowned globally for its with the same assets, in the same place. Once we Gudrun Cartwright, beautiful landscapes, and for the way they know the value that assets offer, and to whom, we can Environment Director, BITC combine culture, the rural economy, and start to build value propositions that secure benefits for I am delighted that we have been nature. This underpins important parts of the regional Cumbrian businesses. In this document we explore able to develop such an economy, in particular tourism. It also creates an how different businesses share an interest in innovative approach to attractive context for a wide range of other businesses Cumbria’s landscape assets and how one key function incentivising collaborative action to operate, invest, and attract talent. There are also - flood mitigation - offers immediate opportunities for that can underpin a truly challenges; the impacts of Storm Desmond in 2015 business collaboration. We know that the most restorative food economy for the – with epic disruption to homes and businesses - resilient landscapes work for more than one purpose. UK. The opportunities to enable farmers to build their demonstrated the inability of landscapes to absorb LENs is about starting with small, mutually beneficial resilience and prosperity by making landscape increasingly frequent episodes of extreme weather. business clusters investing to protect a few simple stewardship a core business requirement, attractively Farm businesses, which shape the much-loved assets. It is designed to grow incrementally, to create a incentivised, has great potential to transform the sector and the landscapes we depend on. character of Cumbria, face enormous uncertainty as network where multiple businesses are collaborating to Thank you to Defra for investing in the project, and grant regimes and trade links are called into question invest in multiple assets, which deliver multiple to Nestlé and 3Keel for pioneering the model with us. by Brexit. Wildlife and visitor infrastructure of the functions across the landscape. LENs rewires the land county often creak under the multiple pressures that economy, so that it can provide the sophisticated range they are put under. The Landscape Enterprise of functions and services that are required by modern Networks approach (LENs) provides a way for regional businesses, and modern society. Andrew Griffiths, Head of businesses to engage with landscapes, to influence the Sustainability, Nestlé UK opportunities and challenges that they present. It uses Nestle is delighted to be closely involved with the development of commercial interest to drive investment in the LENs in Cumbria. We see it as landscape assets that help underpin the Cumbrian How LENs fits in with other an inspiring way to work together economy. LENs works with businesses to identify landscape initiatives with regional networks of functions that local landscape assets provide for them; LENs is about allowing businesses to invest in businesses, to protect our common interest in the whether that’s healthy soils that underpin milk supplies sustainable landscape outcomes, driven by their health and performance of the landscapes in which we into their food factory, or paths to the fells that attract commercial needs. As such it is not intended as a operate and source vital raw materials. The results we guests to their B&B’s or workers to their new tech substitute for comprehensive strategic landscape want to see are more resilient, multifunctional landscapes, bringing benefits to ourselves, to other business. planning. Though it could certainly help drive strategic businesses, and to the communities in which we work. LENs uses a stakeholder network assessments, outcomes in, for example, a catchment-based initiative. combined with geospatial analyses, to identify and convene businesses with shared interests in working Business perspectives 3 Key sectors in the Cumbria economy have roots in the local landscape… Cumbria is renowned for its lakes, Tesco Nestlé UK mountains and rural landscapes - Tesco sources livestock products from Nestlé’s Dalston factory produces its including the iconic Lake District Cumbrian producers. It also serves cappuccino range of products, using milk National Park. Indeed, the county’s agricultural, customers in communities across the county. processed by First Milk and sourced from forty accommodation and transport sectors account Tesco’s retail operations were disrupted by flooding Nestle farmers in Cumbria. The Nestlé First Milk for a greater share of the local economy than when their Carlisle store was closed for eight weeks Partnership aims to secure the long term supply of the UK average - although, to put it into as a result of Storm Desmond in 2015. The this critical raw material by improving the economic business sees cross-industry, landscape-scale and environmental sustainability of local dairy perspective, they still contribute less than 20% collaboration as an important tool for delivering farming. 1 of Gross Value Added (see next page). against its responsible sourcing commitments. Recently Cumbria’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in the country, mainly due to United Utilities National Trust strong manufacturing performance in the west2. United Utilities provides water and The National Trust owns a quarter of the There are obvious and direct links between wastewater services to 3 million homes land in the Lake District, looking after it the landscape assets in Cumbria and food and businesses in the North West. The company forever on behalf of the Nation. This long-view sees collaboration as critical for addressing water gives the Trust an especially deep interest in its production and tourism. However, other sectors quality issues and is looking for more effective ways landscape assets: habitats, soils, water catchments, in the economy have different but equally to work with others to enable the financing of visitor infrastructure, because they underpin valuable dependencies on the landscape. For catchment management - including 56,000 hectares everything the Trust does now, and everything they them, investing in shared landscape assets of land they own around reservoirs. will achieve for future generations. such as natural habitats, rural livelihoods and water catchments can help ensure the region is an attractive and environmentally resilient place Co-op Insurance Iggesund Paperboard Many of Co-op’s retail and insurance Iggesund have a major box-board to invest. Because of this, “environmental customers in Cumbria were severely production plant in Workington, employing sustainability” has been identified by the Local impacted by flooding during Storm Desmond in 400 people and producing 230,000 tonnes of board Enterprise Partnership as one of four economic 2015. Managing the impact of flooding is a major per year. In recent years they have worked with drivers underpinning growth in their strategic priority for Co-op Insurance and they recognise the farmers in the region to source wood-chip from priorities, such as advanced manufacturing and importance of catchment management and short rotation coppice, to fuel their £108 million CHP energy sectors3. supporting communities to mitigate the impacts of generator, producing heat for the plant and these events. exporting non-fossil energy to the grid. Business perspectives continued 4 Tesco Supermarket: Retail store Food manufacturing: asset flood protection to Economically sustainable dairy Nestlé UK ensure business continuity farmers to ensure security of supply of strategic raw material CARLISLE United Utilities Insurance company: Paperboard manufacturer: