Natural capital can be defined as the world’s stocks of natural assets which include geology, soil, air, water and all living things.
From these we derive a wide range of things (often called ecosystem services) which make human life possible, such as:
- food
- water
- the plants we use for fuel, building materials and medicines
- the pollination of crops by insects
- the natural flood defences provided by forests
- the billions of tonnes of carbon stored by peatlands
The Natural Capital Protocol was developed by an international coalition involving business, conservation and academic organisations. It aims to support better decisions by focusing on how businesses interact with nature. It seeks to help businesses measure, value and integrate natural capital into business processes by providing a standard framework through which businesses can structure their thinking about natural capital.
We are advocates for the use of the Natural Capital Protocol in Farming businesses, and have supported it by:
- Completing Natural Capital assessments on our rural estates
- Running trials of the Natural Capital Protocol on our Glenlivet and Fochabers estates
- Hosting a webinar on the Natural Capital Protocol for Farmers and other interested parties (of which a recording is available)
We continue to support the use of the Natural Capital Protocol as a means to help land-based businesses to better understand their impacts and dependencies on natural resources and make more sustainable business decisions.