Natural solutions to climate change

Kent, UK

Project details
Client

Kent County Council

Duration

2020 – 2021

Services provided by Buro Happold

Climate adaptation and resilience, Ecology and biodiversity management, Environmental consultancy, Health wellbeing and productivity, Sustainability

The most populated local authority area in England commissioned Buro Happold consultants for advice on nature-based solutions after declaring a climate and ecological emergency in 2019.

Challenge

Kent County Council (KCC), which has a population of 1.3 million people, faces some unprecedented challenges around the impacts of development, population growth, increased healthcare needs and climate change. The council engaged Buro Happold to develop an assessment of nature-based solutions to climate change.

Solution

Our ecology and biodiversity management specialists conducted a review of existing evidence relating to nature-based solutions in the UK and internationally. The team also undertook a detailed mapping exercise to assess the type, extent and distribution of existing habitats within Kent, and to identify those that could support nature-based solutions.

Nature-based solutions are actions that work with and enhance the natural world to help address societal challenges. Natural and managed ecosystems produce a diverse range of services, including those focused on mitigating and adapting to climate change. At the same time, increasing use of nature-based solutions will help to protect and restore our natural environment.

KCC has an ambition for the county’s tree cover to be extended by 1.5 million to support its climate and biodiversity emergency response. However, as part of a wider strategy looking across the county as a whole, the council wanted to understand more about the natural assets the county currently contains, the multiple benefits of planting more trees and the potential for utilising other habitats to support their climate response, from woodland and grassland to waterways and the built environment.

Our experts on the project (including socio-economic and health and wellbeing specialists) inputted into an opportunities assessment for each habitat to produce an evidence base for suitable solutions, as well as the timescale for implementation.

A view of a field next to a river in Kent
Known as ‘The Garden of England’ Kent has a diverse range of habitats and landscapes. Image: Getty Images

The team also provided an evaluation of the benefits provided to Kent from different habitat types, such as areas that can provide natural carbon sequestration – actively removing carbon from the atmosphere – or habitats that can assist with flood or drought management. We also outlined the potential challenges and risks for the different options.

We conducted extensive spatial habitat analysis using GIS software to understand the distribution and type of existing habitats. Data from KCC, Kent Wildlife Trust and Kent and Medway Biological Records Centre was compiled and analysed alongside designated site boundaries, projected Environment Agency flood mapping and developed and agricultural land use data.

We also used socio-economic data, with indices of multiple deprivations illustrating habitat distribution against areas identified as requiring increased access to public open space and nature.

Value

Buro Happold worked closely with KCC to create a detailed record of the county’s existing land use and habitats. Key stakeholders were engaged through structured meetings as part of the project to ensure the approach was capturing benefits and risks as perceived from multiple interest groups.

The final report presented the opportunities for nature-based solutions in Kent and included a high-level recommendation of those solutions that could be implemented within different timescales and detail on the potential funding streams for delivering the solutions.

Our work provides the upper-tier authority with the information it needs to start to build its resilience around population challenges, to mitigate against the evolving risks of the climate emergency and to start to create a complementary network of natural habitats across the county.