Blenheim Estate natural capital assessment technical report

Report

The natural capital of the Blenheim Estate, including the woodlands, fields, gardens, lakes and other habitats, delivers significant benefits for the estate, the local community and visitors. Blenheim Park is well known for its outstanding cultural and historic value, attracting visitors from all over the world, but it is also highly valued by the local community as a special place to exercise, relax and connect with nature. The Park and the wider estate produce food, timber, fresh water and renewable energy, store and sequester carbon, and provide a flood protection service for communities downstream, as well as providing habitat for wildlife including pollinators and crop pest predators. There are opportunities to manage natural capital in a way that protects and enhances key services such as water quality regulation and erosion protection, and improves the connectivity of walking and cycling routes and wildlife corridors.

This natural capital assessment has estimated the value of the ecosystem services provided by the Estate in 2019. The assessment covers the whole 12,000 acre (4858 ha) estate, using readily available data. A more detailed level of assessment, including public participatory mapping of cultural ecosystem services, has been conducted for the 975 ha Blenheim Park, which forms a distinct area of high cultural and biodiversity value.

Authors: Smith, A; Berry, P; Rhee, S; Wijesinghe, A; Lister, K

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
• Place of publication: Oxford, UK
• Publication date: 2020-09-30
• Language: English
• Keywords: ecosystem services; natural capital