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The Natural Capital Index of the Netherlands

The indicator Natural Capital Index (NCI) entails both the changes in "nature quality" as the change in area of ecosystems. The NCI of the Netherlands has fallen sharply, not only because of a decline in the "nature quality" but also because of the decline of natural areas in the last century.

What is the NCI?


The Natural Capital Index (NCI) is an indicator for the biodiversity of habitats. NCI considers biodiversity of an ecosystem as the stock of its characteristic species including their corresponding abundances. The loss of biodiversity is characterized by the decrease in abundance of many species and increase of a few others, due to human interventions. NCI is a function of changes in the area of ecosystems and the changes in abundance of a core set of species within the remaining ecosystem. The latter is called "nature quality", the former factor "ecosystem quantity".

Trends in "nature quality"


The "nature quality" of the natural ecosystems in the Netherlands varies from 30% to 50% (see left-hand figure). On average, the quality is 44% compared with the low impact baseline state. This means that the species abundance is on average 44% compared to the baseline state The "nature quality" of the agricultural area is 36% (not shown in the figure).

"Nature quality" has declined most in forest and woodland, heathland, lakes and pools, fresh water in the river region, and in the saline delta. The highest nature quality is found in marshes, swamps and bogs, the dunes, the freshwater delta in Zeeland, and the Waddenzee (Wadden Sea).

Trends in natural capital


Combining all the natural ecosystems allows the Natural Capital Index for the Netherlands to be calculated. Given an average "nature quality" of 44% and a proportion of the area that is 41%, the NCI for the entire country in 2000 was 18%. The NCI for 1900 and 1950 were 55% and 30% respectively (see left-hand figure).

Causes


The decline in NCI is the result of human activities, particularly the eutrophication, acidification, lowering of groundwater tables, fragmentation, overexploitation and last but not least habitat loss in the 20th century.

Technical note


The Natural Capital Index (NCI) is defined as the product of the size of a natural area and its nature quality. The nature quality of an ecosystem is defined as the ratio between the current state and a particular baseline state, expressed as a percentage. This indicator considers the loss in wildlife in relation to a relatively undisturbed situation (the baseline state). This baseline state is based on historical data of a relatively low impacted state. This differs from ecosystem to ecosystem. For large watersystems and dunes the period around 1900 or earlier has been used as baseline. For marshes, swamps, lakes and bogs, the state around 1950. For forest theoretical and geographical baselines has been used. For agricultural ecosystems the extensive agricultural ecosystems arond the period 1950 has been applied as cultural baseline. Data are available for these periodes and, moreover, environmental problems were much less important in the Netherlands in 1900 - 1950 than they are today.

"Nature quality" has been determined by comparing the present-day abundance of characteristic species with their abundance in the baseline state. An exact match results in a figure of 100%. But if species have declined in numbers or have been extinct, the quality is proportionally lower. The "nature quality" has been established using data on the abundance of certain species of plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes, aquatic macrofauna, butterflies and molluscs. Characteristic species have been selected for each ecosystem type (forest and woodland; heathland; marshes, swamps and bogs; dunes; fens; brooks; lakes; large freshwater bodies; brackish and saline water bodies; agricultural area) (Ten Brink et al., 2002).

The "nature quality" of terrestrial types of nature has been determined on the basis of the abundanceof at least several dozen characteristic species (see table). The "nature quality" of the aquatic types of nature is based on a smaller set of species and should be treated with some caution.

The area per ecosystem type is the proportion of the Netherlands as a whole. The area of the Noordzee ecosystem is limited to the 12-mile zone.

The information on the species used to calculate the Natural Capital Index is from De Vlinderstichting, FLORON, SOVON, VZZ, RAVON, Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Wageningen Universiteit, OVB, STOWA, RIKZ, RIZA and from surveys done by the Ecological Monitoring Network.

References


  • Brink, B.J.E. ten, A. van Strien, A. van Hinsberg, M.J.S.M. Reijnen, J. Wiertz, J.R.M. Alkemade, H.F. van Dobben, L.W.G. Higler, B.J.H. Koolstra, W. Ligtvoet, M. van der Peijl en S. Semmekrot (2000). Natuurgraadmeters voor de behoudsoptiek. RIVM rapport 408657005. RIVM Bilthoven.
  • Brink, B.J.E. ten, A. van Hinsberg, M. de Heer, D.C.J. van der Hoek, B. de Knegt, O.M. Knol, W. Ligtvoet, R. Rosenboom en M.J.S.M. Reijnen (2002). Technisch ontwerp Natuurwaarde en toepassing in Natuurverkenning 2. RIVM rapport 408657007. Bilthoven.
  • Brink, B.J.E. ten (2000). Biodiversity indicators for the OECD Environmental Outlook and Strategy; a feasibility study. RIVN report 402001014. Bilthoven
  • Brink, B.J.E. ten, T. Tekelenburg (2002). Biodiversity: how much is left? The Natural Capital Index framework (NCI).RIVM report 402001014. Bilthoven
  • UNEP (1997). Recommendation for a core set of indicators of biological diversity. Convention of Biological Diversity, UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/3/9, and inf. 13, inf. 14, Montreal.
This page was last changed on 21 April 2004  (version 01).