Valuing Nature Land Allocation Models Phase 1

As a society we have many competing needs for the landscapes around us. Decision makers need a good understanding of the implications of different decisions for land use e.g. whether to use land for different types of farming, woodland etc. There are a range of different computer models are available to inform how we make decisions about how to allocate land to different uses.

These models have different strengths, weaknesses, outputs and appropriate uses. These include innovative models incorporating human behaviour, and excellent biophysical models focussed on environmental science, models that include the dynamics of transition and models that give snap shots of potential future scenarios. Some are publicly available others can only be used by the research team who developed them. Some focus more on valuation and decision making, others more on the ecosystem services and system dynamics.

This project will review the various models available and produce a user friendly guide to their strengths and weaknesses.

This issue is particularly important at the UK looks to the future mechanism for replacing the Common Agricultural Policy after EU-Exit. For example, the current Defra proposals for a new Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) are based on the concept of paying farmers for the ecosystem services they support as "public goods". This will need to be an area of future research as it requires a strong understanding of how different land allocation provides these ecosystem services, and the role of different Land Allocation Models in providing this information.

The impact of this investment will be ensured by working closely with stakeholders in this process. Defra, Natural England, the Environment Agency and the National Trust have all agreed to take an active role and to provide case studies for consideration under the various models.