A NEW tool has been launched by the Government to help measure the county’s natural capital.

Online resource Enabling a Natural Capital Approach (ENCA) is designed to help ensure better environmental decision-making by valuing our natural capital, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms.

For the first time, a comprehensive and integrated set of evidence and guidance about UK natural capital is now accessible from one place.

It is intended to help policy makers, businesses, landowners and public sector organisations make better planning decisions in order to protect and to boost natural capital.

The new approach aims to make it easier for organisations to better assess and value the environment, which will in turn help deliver benefits such as long-term flood risk reduction, boosts to wildlife, improvements to water and air quality, and opportunities for biodiversity net gain.

The resource was developed in collaboration with experts from Defra, and informed by the work of academic and professional bodies, to ensure the evidence is included in a user-friendly way.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “The publication helps to put the natural environment at the heart of decision-making.

“It meets a commitment from our 25-year Environment Plan to better incorporate the value of nature and the benefits the environment provides to us all.”

Matthew Farrow, executive director of the Environmental Industries Commission said that business had a vital role in delivering natural capital improvements across Britain’s communities and countryside, and that bringing together relevant resources in to one place would make a huge difference to the ability of businesses to assess how their actions and investment decisions could be aligned with protecting the environment.