Tool Assessor focuses on tools and resources that are available for practical applications within the UK and are intended to support real-world environmental planning, management and investment decisions. We aim to include tools that are accessible, relevant, and useful to practitioners across a range of sectors.  

Tool Assessor includes tools and resources that use a range of related concepts to describe how the natural environment supports society. The most common are natural capital, ecosystem services, and green infrastructure. The following definitions are guided by the UK Government’s Enabling a Natural Capital Approach Guidance. 

• Natural capital refers to the stock of natural assets—such as woodlands, rivers, wetlands, soils, parks and wildlife—that underpin the benefits nature provides to people. The quality, quantity, and location of these assets determine the servicesand related benefits they deliver over time. 

• Ecosystem services are the flows of services from natural capital which, combined with other forms of capital (human, produced, social) produce a wide range of benefits. These include clean air and water, carbon sequestration, flood regulation, food production, recreation, improved health and wellbeing, and many other social, environmental and economic benefits. 

• Green infrastructure is strategically planned natural and semi-natural features—such as parks, street trees, rivers, wetlands and green spaces—that deliver multiple benefits for people and nature. Green infrastructure forms an important part of our natural capital and provides many ecosystem services. 

Although these terms have distinct meanings, they are closely connected and are often used together. Many of the tools featured in Tool Assessor are designed to assess natural capital, measure ecosystem services, evaluate green infrastructure, or support decision-making using one or more of these approaches. 

The Tool Assessor platform mentions the UK’s Enabling a Natural Capital Approach (ENCA) guidance. What is ENCA? 

The Enabling a Natural Capital Approach (ENCA) is a framework developed by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to help decision-makers better understand and account for the value of the natural environment. ENCA brings together guidance, evidence, data and practical tools to support the application of a natural capital approach in policy, planning, project appraisal and environmental management. ENCA provides guidance on how to assess environmental impacts in policy or project development and appraisal, which follows a 4-step approach: 

1) Understand the environmental context to the project or proposal such as its scale, location, outputs and geographic reach. 

2) Assess impacts on natural assets that might be affected

3) Consider and value the welfare implications of the changes to natural assets. How will changes in assets affect the ecosystem services and benefits they provide to society? 

4) Consider uncertainties and optimise outcomes

See the ENCA guidance section 3.5 for further information on the 4-step approach.  

Tool Assessor complements ENCA by helping users identify and compare methods and tools that can be used to apply a natural capital approach in practice. 

We would love to hear from you! If you have a case study that you think would be valuable to others, please get in touch by email at info@ecosystemsknowledge.net. We’ll ask for some additional information about your project and review it for inclusion on the Tool Assessor Case Study Map. Sharing your experience helps other users understand how tools have been applied in real-world situations and the insights that follow from using a tool. 

Your feedback helps others understand how tools perform in practice. If you are a member of the Ecosystems Knowledge Network, you can leave a comment on the relevant tool page to share your experience and lessons learned. Alternatively, you can email us at info@ecosystemsknowledge.net describing how you used the tool, the context in which it was applied, and whether it informed nature-related decision-making. We welcome case studies and practical examples that can help other users select and apply tools effectively.