Measuring our natural capital
Understanding the state of our land and water sites helps prioritise improvements.
Protecting our natural capital by evaluating it
We’re using natural capital accounting to measure and evaluate our natural assets, these include rivers, lakes and woodlands. We’ve grouped these natural assets into areas we call catchments. A catchment is an area where water is collected by the natural landscape – it can be a river water catchment or groundwater catchment.
Our Natural Capital in our Catchments report and its appendix look at our 11 catchment areas. The report uses natural capital accounting to measure and evaluate natural assets, helping us protect these environments going forwards. This report follows our first Natural Capital in our Catchments report, covering three of these areas: the Arun and Western Streams, the Medway, and the Test and Itchen catchment.
The benefits of natural capital accounting
We want to protect the environment and the natural assets in the region we serve. Using natural capital accounting, we can inform our planning and investment decisions.
Having a better understanding of the state of our water sites and other natural assets, helps us plan and prioritise our future work. We can track changes in natural capital over time while we make improvements, working with stakeholders in partnership to boost natural capital by restoring or enhancing these environments.
Natural capital and our catchments
We have a total of 98 groundwater catchments, 11 river catchments, and 4 reservoir catchments in our region. We committed to setting up natural capital accounts for at least three of our 11 catchments by the end of 2024–25.
By evaluating the quantity and quality of natural capital, we can understand better how to continue protecting the environment in these catchments, where ecosystems also support recreational activities and the local economy.