Finding your way in environmental stewardship: Tools worth knowing about
As interest in nature markets grows, many practitioners are looking for practical ways to understand, assess, and communicate the wider benefits of environmental interventions. A growing number of tools are available to support this, but knowing where to start can be a challenge when making critical decisions for environmental stewardship.
This webinar marks the launch of new tools and updates to the Ecosystems Knowledge Network Tool Assessor, highlighting a selection of new tools included in the updated resource, offering practical insight into how they can support natural capital assessment, ecosystem service evaluation and nature market development.
Through a series of short presentations, you’ll gain insight into how these tools work, what they can be used for, and how they may support decision-making in practice.
Tools featured:
Alison Smith (University of Oxford) will introduce two complementary tools featured within the EKN Tool Assessor.
Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool (EBNT)
The Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool (EBNT) is a free, Excel-based decision-support tool designed to work alongside the Biodiversity Metric. It enables users to assess changes across a wide range of ecosystem services (including flood regulation, carbon storage, recreation and air quality) using a habitat-based scoring approach. It is particularly useful for exploring trade-offs and demonstrating the wider benefits of development and land-use change.
Agile Opportunity Maps
The Agile Opportunity Maps are a spatial decision-support approach that use GIS and ecosystem service modelling to identify opportunities for nature recovery and nature-based solutions. The maps help highlight where interventions may deliver the greatest benefits while minimising trade-offs, supporting more strategic landscape-scale planning.
Donya Davidson (NatureScot) will present the NatureScot Natural Capital Tool:
NatureScot Natural Capital Tool
This is a web-based platform designed to support natural capital assessments across Scotland
The tool integrates environmental and socio-economic data to map ecosystem service capacity, demand, and opportunity. Outputs include maps and metrics that can be used to identify priority areas for intervention, compare land-use scenarios, and support policy, planning and investment decisions.
Why attend?
Whether you are new to environmental stewardship or looking to strengthen your understanding of available tools, this session will provide a practical starting point. You’ll come away with a clearer sense of:
- which tools might be useful for your work
- how they can support decision-making
- how to begin navigating the growing landscape of natural capital tools and approaches
About the Tool Assessor
For more information on a wide range of tools that can support you in your work, visit the Ecosystems Knowledge Network Tool Assessor on our website. It brings together accessible information on tools for natural capital, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions, helping you identify those most relevant to your needs.
Speakers
Alison Smith
Senior Researcher, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Alison Smith
Senior Researcher, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Alison is a Senior Researcher in the Ecosystems Group at the Environmental Change Institute, where she works closely with the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery and the Nature-based Solutions Initiative. She works closely with non-academic partners to develop and apply practical methods of mapping and modelling opportunities for nature recovery and nature-based solutions, and assessing the outcomes for people, climate and biodiversity. She developed the Agile Opportunity Maps which are intended to help to deliver the right nature recovery interventions in the right places to meet community needs. These maps have been applied to support development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies in several counties, including Yorkshire, Somerset, Surrey and Shropshire. She also worked closely with Natural England to develop the Environmental Benefits from Nature (EBN) Tool, which complements the Biodiversity Metric and aims to help improve the design of new urban developments by indicating their impacts on 18 ecosystem services.
Donya Davidson
Natural Capital Manager, NatureScot
Donya Davidson
Natural Capital Manager, NatureScot
Donya is the Natural Capital Manager at NatureScot, where she leads a team developing an innovative natural capital tool for Scotland. An ecologist by background, she specialises in natural capital valuation, ecosystem service modelling, and co-design approaches. Before joining NatureScot, she led the development of the Edinburgh Nature Network at the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Prior to that, she began her career as a consultant ecologist, supporting a range of projects across mainland Scotland and the isles. Donya is passionate about nature conservation and the role of accessible science in decision-making. Her work connects science, policy, and practice to deliver benefits for both people and nature.
FAQ
