Biodiversity loss and Climate change are closely inter-linked problems and need to be tackled in an integrated way. England’s habitats still hold vast carbon stores in their vegetation and soils, which need protection, to avoid releasing this carbon back into the atmosphere.
With the update to the evidence in our Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat 2021 (NERR094), & the subsequent Nature Returns Project filling some of the evidence gaps, this report and accompany data set, is the second version to represent these carbon values in spatially informative way.
These England wide data layers link nature recovery decision-making with climate goals, as restoring nature can help restore the climate. It identifies the terrestrial carbon stored in nature through the above and below ground carbon storage layers. It also has a carbon flux/ sequestration layer that show where we are likely to be gaining and losing carbon. Additionally, it uses this information and land cover to show the abatement opportunities, where land use change, ideally through nature recovery, may well reduce carbon loss that is occurring due to sub-optimal land use.
How we manage our land significantly influences its role as a Green House Gas (GHG) source or sink. The large loss of habitat across England has resulted in a direct loss of carbon stored within them, restoring these for nature recovery will put back some of the degradation lost in the last century with the added climate & biodiversity benefits.
Restoring ecosystems through a targeted approach to the restoration and protection of nature can also help people adapt to the impacts of Climate Change.
These data sets are designed to feed into these local and national decisions making to informed and highlight important places for action or retention.