Natural England - Evaluation projects
Evaluation projects
These projects use information from both monitoring and research to determine the significance and impact of activities that we carry out or support.
Access and engagement
Evaluation
| ID | Title | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP0258 | Evaluation of the Access To Nature Grants Programme | The Access to Nature Grants Programme is part of Big Lottery's Changing Spaces Programme. This is a formative programme evaluation reporting initially to the Project Steering Group, with a final report to be published in 2013. Every project will do its own self-evaluation, and 20 projects will be selected for detailed case study.
| Alison Hill |
| RP0890 | Formative Evaluation of Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) | The aim of the project is to undertake initial formative evaluation of Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs), and recommend options for future outcome and impact evaluation. Evaluating LNPs will help Defra, Arms Length Bodies (ALBs) and LNPs themselves to understand their potential to achieve the aspirations of the Natural Environment White Paper locally and to deliver positive outcomes for their area. The outputs will inform the further development of LNPs, as well as being of great relevant to wider sustainable land management, biodiversity, and local partnership programmes in Defra and ALBs. The project is being led by Defra. | Alison Darlow |
Biodiversity
Evaluation
| ID | Title | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP0965 | Stodmarsh NNR: Survey bird numbers and determine the effectivess of management against SPA baselines | This project will survey SAP species and analyse these against existing baseline data in order to inform management.
Natural England's financial contribution to this project is currently estimated to be: £2,500.00 | Becky Plunkett |
| RP0985 | A conservation intervention synopsis for bats | The purpose of this project is to write and publish a conservation intervention synopsis for bats, to provide a resource for conservationists, and to stimulate effective, greater effort in evidence-based conservation. The output of this project will be published as a ConservationEvidence.com review, making it available to the wider conservation community. Conservation Evidence is a free, authoritative information resource designed to support decisions about how to maintain and restore global biodiversity and is based at Cambridge University.
Natural England's financial contribution to this project is currently estimated to be: £20,195.00 | Kate Morris |
| RP1000 | A review of the dormouse re-introduction programme in England | The aim of the project is to undertake a review of the re-introduction programme for dormice through a review of the 18 releases that have taken place so far. In the light of conclusions being drawn from the questions posed, a suitable way forward will be determined. The results will be fed into to Dormouse re-introduction programme.
Natural England's financial contribution to this project is currently estimated to be: £20,000.00 | Kate Morris |
Land management
Evaluation
| ID | Title | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP0498 | Evaluation of Higher Level Stewardship permissive access | Funded as part of RDPE Technical Assistance programme there are 2 objectives: 1. Evaluate the extent to which existing HLS permissive access agreements are delivering their intended outcomes, whether there are any unintended (or indirect) impacts arising from the agreements, and how these impacts are experienced by different stakeholders 2. Assess the effect of the change to a voluntary approach to the delivery of the intended outcomes for HLS permissive access.
Natural England's financial contribution to this project is currently estimated to be: £83,991.60 | Alison Hill |
| RP0533 | Correlative analysis of datasets to assess the degree of success in the delivery of Environmental Stewardship objectives | The project involves carrying out a correlative analysis of environmental, agricultural, ES scheme and wider datasets, to provide evidence of, and describe the relationship between achievement of ES objectives, and scheme and option uptake, to test the hypothesis that agri-environment interventions provide improved trajectories towards the planned objectives of the schemes. | Chris Chesterton |
| RP0648 | Testing Directed Option Choice (Compulsion) in ELS | This project will test the potential to shift from the current free choice of management options that ELS applicants have, to one where there is less free choice and more direction in option selection. In essence applicants will be asked to accrue a set percentage of their ELS points target from management options considered to be of higher environmental value and results assessed for a) degree of improved outcomes delivered, b) likely impact on scheme uptake and, c) customer experience. The project aims to complete in time to inform scheme development for 2014+. | Ewan Nugent |
| RP0834 | Uplands Evidence Review | The Uplands Evidence Review is part of a wider Natural England Upland Delivery Review Programme. It relates to evidence on biodiversity and ecosystem services in the uplands, and the impact of land management activities upon them. Other relevant information, such as social and economic factors, whilst important, are not part of this review. The review considers 5 topics, chosen because we currently receive significant challenge around the evidence: * Impacts of managed burning on peat; * Impacts of track construction; * Hay meadow management; * Livestock mgt and stocking rates; and * Restoration of degraded blanket bog.
Natural England's financial contribution to this project is currently estimated to be: £40,000.00 | Ben Nichols |
| RP0919 | Monitoring the effects of English agri-environment schemes on upland breeding birds using the Upland Breeding Bird Survey | The main aim of the project is to assess the effects and impacts of AES on key bird species breeding in the English uplands, especially in relation to AES agreements and individual or groups of key AES options likely to influence upland breeding birds. In addition, the data collected by the project will enable the production of more precise population trends for a wide range of upland specialist and non-specialist bird species in England. It is part of the ES Evidence Plan programme and is funded by the RDP Technical Assistance budget held by Defra. | Phil Grice |
| RP0950 | Evaluating the effectiveness of Environmental Stewardship agreements for the conservation and enhancement of historic parklands and developing a method of prioritisation for funding | ES parkland restoration & maintenance projects are of high value, both monetarily and in terms of their contribution to historic environment, landscape, biodiversity and access objectives. This contract will provide the basis for focussing future ES priorities and targets for parklands. It will use an informed approach, taking into account all objectives so that NE can appraise and prioritise potential parkland projects at the outset, without incurring significant financial or time impact. The project is RDPE TA funded. | Victoria Hunns |
Sustainable Land Use
Evaluation
| ID | Title | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP0913 | Green Infrastructure knowledge sharing through case study dissemination | This project uses evidence gathered through our partnership projects and planning cases to provide 25 case studies which demonstrate how GI can deliver ecosystem services and objectives for landscape, biodiversity and access. The studies provide examples of achieving GI through: Development control; Strategic plans; Regeneration activity; Funded partnership projects. The studies will be made available through our website, Defra''s and stakeholders websites, as well as through the Defra GI Partnership. Natural England staff will use them as supporting evidence when providing development management advice and commenting on Local Plans. | Tom Butterworth |
