We have recently commissioned an independent audit of our natural capital assets, including Epping Forest. For generations we have described the Forest as ‘priceless’, but that doesn’t allow us to quantify the value of the services we provide to the public, to benchmark our progress against other sites or to prioritise resources to actions which give us the greatest return on investment.
With an annual influx of more than 10 million visitors, the Forest delivers recreational and health benefits valued at over £50 million per year, carbon capture worth £4.5 million and significant air and water quality benefits. In fact, Epping Forest provides the highest benefit-to-cost ratio across all the open spaces managed by us, delivering £20.20 in benefits for every £1 spent.
Many forget that the Forest is of national and international conservation importance, containing two registered historic parks, eight listed buildings and four scheduled ancient monuments. It also provides access to facilities for physical activity and recreation such as walking and running, cycling, horse riding, angling, football, cricket and golf. There are three visitor centres, a museum and more than 100 ponds and lakes.
The natural capital valuation is one of a number of ways we will assess the impact of our management plans, but the ability to articulate the economic value of the ‘green lungs of London’ using scientific methodology for the first time does allow us to really think about what loss or damage would mean and work with partners to mitigate it.
Talking of partners, I recently hosted the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Mark Spencer, and Chingford and Woodford Green MP, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who witnessed first-hand the innovative technology employed in managing longhorn cattle, vital for conservation.
We were also delighted to host Epping Forest MP, Dame Eleanor Laing, at the Guildhall who helped launch our new strategies, which are Nature Conservation and Resilience, Culture Heritage and Learning, Access and Recreation and Community Engagement.
We are currently working with Theydon Bois Parish Council who are carrying out improvements on the pathways on The Green. This will improve accessibility for both local residents and the growing volume of visitors using the walking trail from the tube station.
I was also pleased to present the FA’s Grassroots Club of the Year award this week to R77 Soccer School who play at Wanstead Flats. This group has encouraged and mentored boys and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds into the sport. They started out with 9 coaches and 6 children and now have more than 150 children playing regularly.
Finally, buds and bulbs are emerging from their winter sleep and our partners at the Field Studies Council in High Beach have launched a ‘Signs of Spring’ survey with the Royal Society of Biology. We were delighted to welcome the BBC’s One Show to Epping Forest to launch this initiative and I hope you will participate by helping to record your findings on their survey.
Ben Murphy, Chairman of the City Corporation’s Epping Forest and Commons Committee