Bassenthwaite Catchment Case Study
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Case Study: The Economic Benefits of Ecosystems Services in the Bassenthwaite Catchment 1 | P a g e Table of Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 9 ‘Eco-System Services?’ ......................................................................................................................... 10 Our Approach ....................................................................................................................................... 12 The 11 Economic Benefits of the Bassenthwaite Catchment ............................................................ 16 1 Economic Growth and Investment .................................................................................................. 17 2 Land and Property Values ............................................................................................................... 20 3 Labour Productivity ......................................................................................................................... 25 4 Tourism ............................................................................................................................................ 29 5 Products from the Land .................................................................................................................. 45 6 Health and Wellbeing ...................................................................................................................... 56 7 Recreation and Leisure .................................................................................................................... 64 8 Quality of Place ................................................................................................................................ 67 9 Land and Biodiversity ...................................................................................................................... 72 10 Flood Alleviation and Management ............................................................................................. 74 11 Climate Change and Mitigation ..................................................................................................... 80 Environmental improvement and economic benefits ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 84 Bass Catchment Appendix ................................................................................................................. 88 Explanation ......................................................................................................................................... 88 2 | P a g e Executive Summary In December 2009 Cumbria County Council and highest growth sectors of the past two decades Natural England commissioned Rebanks have recently been show to be the most high Consulting to undertake analysis of the risk. Tourism and agriculture may be relatively Bassenthwaite catchment area as a case study in low GVA, but they employ large numbers of the role of ‘ecosystem services’ and green people in rural areas and are relatively recession- infrastructure in economic development. proof relative to, for example, the financial Ecosystem services are those services that the services. However, this cannot be a mantra to natural environment and its ecosystems provide excuse the economic underperformance of rural and which benefit people. The ecosystem areas. services approach considers the long-term ecosystem health and its role in enabling and The communities of the Bassenthwaite supporting human social, cultural and economic catchment need both economic dynamism and well being. environmental sustainability, and the wider report in which this case study sits suggests how The research used the 11 economic benefits of those two things can be approached in a more green infrastructure developed by the Natural holistic manner. Here follows a summary of the Economy North West. The Natural Economy NW Bassenthwaite Case Study1. project has developed a checklist of 11 themes used to help communicate the economic Economic Growth and Investment benefits that green infrastructure can deliver. Sustainable economic development is about This checklist is used in this report as a basis for more than economic growth or GVA setting out an agenda for further consideration productivity, it also needs to be underpinned by of the potential future role of green healthy and well-functioning ecosystems. High infrastructure in broader strategy for economic GVA economic sectors require living and development, regeneration and growth in working environments that people want to live, Cumbria. work, and invest in. However, like much of rural This report primarily looked at existing economic Cumbria, the Bassenthwaite catchment suffers impact evidence, which is overwhelmingly GVA from relatively low productivity, because it is focused (Gross Value Added). There are other over reliant upon small businesses in ‘low GVA’ evolving measures of economic impact, some of sectors like tourism and retail. Employment is which may be more suitable for measuring the relatively high in the catchment, so benefits of ecosystem services than GVA. GVA is environmental projects should not prioritise a challenging measure (some would argue creating relatively low value jobs. Raising the inappropriate measure) to apply to quality and value of employment is the key environmental initiatives but it remains the economic goal. Average wages in rural Cumbria primary measure used by economic are typically 20-30% below national averages. development professionals in Cumbria. The quality of the catchment’s environment is a GVA is just one way of measuring prosperity and 1 In the full report we detail the limitations of taking a wellbeing, and it should not be considered the geographical area and trying to get accurate socio- only measure. Even if it were possible to have economic data. A number of these statistics are the nothing but high GVA sectors, no community best available estimates based on relevant data. The would want to be entirely reliant upon too tourism statistics in particular cover a rather wider narrow an economic profile. Some of the geographical area than the geographical catchment, but we believe this reflects the realities of tourism. 3 | P a g e mixed blessing. On the one hand it helps attract persons on job seekers allowance. The GVA per some workers, and businesses, and helps some employee in the Hotels and Restaurants sector businesses retain staff. But the perception of in Cumbria is c. £17,000, the all sector average the Lake District landscape has led many people for Cumbria is £34,000. The challenge for to think this is a non-business location and that environmental organisations and projects is to is concerning for dynamic inward investment. support tourism development of higher value Cumbria needs a new economic vision for its activities, linked to quality hotels, shops, food rural communities that builds on its strengths, and drink, and experiences which are capable of but it also needs the infrastructure to attract sustaining higher value employment. And not to new businesses. More effective relationships perpetuate low value, part time, and seasonal between tourism infrastructure and tourism employment. Traditionally too many environmental projects could deliver higher environmental projects have offered low value value activity. tourism facilities, and have as an un-unintended consequence perhaps perpetuated the Land and property prices problems. The quality of this landscape has a powerful effect on house prices, making them 7-12 times Tourism the median incomes in the catchment’s wards. The catchment currently supports a £262 million The average house price being between per annum tourism economy, with nearly 1200 £250,000 and £320,oo0; with a Lakeland businesses providing, amongst other things, landscape view adding c. 20% to the value of a nearly 15,000 bed spaces. The catchment property. Houses are more than £100,000 above attracts in the region of 3 million visitors per the Cumbrian average. That is the good news; year, and the spend supports more than 4,000 the bad news is that the catchment’s economy jobs (FTE). Tourism makes up more than half the cannot sustain employment that allows economic activity in the catchment, so it is residents to buy these homes. Also the currently bigger in economic terms than all the environmental premium paid on properties other ecosystem services together. 95% of Lake appears to not benefit the landscape. Land is a District visitors are motivated to visit by the similar story: Valley bottom farmland has a landscape and physical environment. The Lake market value of c.£15,000 per hectare, and District has tourism spend per hectare value of unimproved land £2,500 per hectare. As much of £2,875 (with 36.2 visitors per hectare). But this landscape is managed or owned (Only 4% of despite this being such a big part of the the Lake District is owned by the Lake District economy of the catchment; there are challenges National Park Authority) by the private sector with the sector as a means of sustaining the this is good news for selling landowners. But landscape. Most tourism