Marine natural capital is an important emerging field. This importance becomes increasingly clear in the context of restoration projects: “What are the economic/societal benefits and improvements related to habitat restoration?” This question is often asked to justify conservation or restoration work in order to secure funding.

The aim of this project was to assess the natural capital benefits of Wilder Humber, a large-scale restoration project. This was achieved by conducting a literature review of the topic and the different approaches to natural capital assessments. The best suited approach for this project was to apply ecosystem service rates (e.g., rate of carbon sequestration) found in the literature, to our target restoration areas of saltmarsh and seagrass (2 and 30 hectares respectively).

The impact of this work will help businesses justify investment in marine and coastal restoration, as we were able to quantify increases in environmentally and economically projected ecosystem services.