The Environment Agency has published a new open-data mapping platform designed to show how rivers across England support ecosystem services and where interventions may be needed to improve environmental outcomes.
The tool, known as the Ecosystem Service Map Explorer (ESME), was released on 11 May as part of the agency’s Riverine Natural Capital Condition and Ecosystem Service Mapping Project.
According to the Environment Agency, the project “developed spatial riverine natural capital condition and ecosystem service evidence” and models the condition of rivers and surrounding catchments alongside their capacity to provide ecosystem services.
The mapping system brings together geospatial datasets, condition indicators and ecosystem-service modelling to create national-scale maps covering freshwater rivers in England. The EA said the findings are intended to support planning and delivery decisions aimed at improving environmental and socio-economic outcomes.
The agency said the project had developed “scalable condition indicator and ecosystem service maps for freshwater rivers in England for ten ecosystem services”.
Among the stated outcomes are:
- open geospatial evidence designed to improve understanding of natural capital;
- reusable frameworks for ecosystem-service mapping;
- links between river condition and ecosystem-service provision;
- and identification of evidence gaps for future development.
The EA said the maps “reveal where rivers are in a condition to continue serving communities, and conversely, where interventions might be needed to improve river health to increase their capacity to deliver ecosystem services”.
The system operates at multiple spatial scales, including river reaches, Water Framework Directive waterbodies and management catchments.
The methodology report describes ESME as “a newly developed tool that maps the capacity of rivers across England to provide 10 different ecosystem services, using a range of indicators of natural capital asset condition”.
The work was commissioned by the Environment Agency’s Chief Scientist’s Group and funded through Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme. Research delivery involved Natural Capital Solutions and the River Restoration Centre.
The River Restoration Centre said the project aimed to identify how river condition could be inferred from existing datasets and highlighted gaps where further evidence would be needed to understand rivers’ contribution to natural capital.
The Environment Agency has published the mapping tool, methodology documents and supporting datasets through GOV.UK and associated Defra data platforms.
