Putting nature’s services on the map. Summary report on a workshop for local government and delivery partners to identify and share good practice, held Oxford, 29 April 2013

This event brought together representatives of 26 local authorities to share good practice in the creation and use of maps of what nature does for people. These maps offer significant benefits over and above traditional land use maps because they portray the ‘services’ that nature provides for people (such as access to natural outdoor spaces that improve people’s health and the way in which land regulates floods). These services can be portrayed individually or collectively. Maps can show current and future service provision, as well as show where these services are most needed. Several examples illustrate the benefits that this type of mapping can provide for cost-effective delivery of local government functions, including levering new funds. While local authorities and their partners often have good mapping capabilities, the range of technical data required to produce these maps is a challenge. The creation of sets of maps of nature’s services is a long-term process (not a ‘one-off’ set of images), involving communities and local authority decision makers.