Natural England

FAQs

Who does the evaluation? Where do the judgements about 'importance' and so on come from?

For some kinds of benefit, such as greenhouse gases or biodiversity, the main source of data and judgements about importance is expert science. At the other extreme, recreational benefits depend entirely on the preferences, views and habits of the people affected. If nobody actually uses a site for recreation (for example because there are better facilities elsewhere) it can't be judged important for this purpose. For many services, we need methods and processes to draw together both expert and community sources of information and judgement.