Comparison of different approaches to optimising Forest Management and Ecosystem Service Delivery.

Most studies of the values of ecosystem services are theoretical in that the scenarios under consideration are unlikely to be delivered. This studentship will consider the practicality of applying the natural capital approach guide large scale decisions on land use over an extensive area. This is then likely to be influential for others dealing with similar land use issues. The project uses Thetford Forest and Breckland heaths as a model to explore the impact on the range of ecosystem services provided by the forest (carbon sequestration, water yield and quality timber and biomass fuel production, biodiversity conservation and recreational provision) under different land use and management options available. Thetford Forest is a large and most environmentally important forests comprising some 23,000ha of forest and heathland, all of which is designated as a Special Protection Area alongside large areas of nationally important SSSI. It is situated on one of East Anglia’s most important aquifers. The project will use the comprehensive detailed data sets on soils, recreational usage, presence and performance of plantations of different timber tree species, detailed information on land management operations across the estate, biodiversity management and the distribution of species assemblages. The impact of land use decisions on provisioning services, such as timber and wood fuel production, agricultural yield, water yield and quality and the impact these decisions have on direct costs of production, indirect opportunity costs, or on income and expenditure incurred by the Forest managers themselves will be carefully gauged under a range of different option scenarios, including under climate change. This studentship will test and advance methods for assessing the optimal spatial and temporal solution under a range of different methods and assumptions. This will both be of general theoretical importance and lead to practical outcomes as forestry options are under active consideration by Forest Enterprise across Thetford Forest and nature conservation considerations will have a significant impact in determining the adoption of various forest management options.

This will be supervised by William Sutherland (University of Cambridge) and Jonathan Spencer and Richard Brooke (Forest Enterprise).