Regeneration game

Environmental restoration projects can bring benefits beyond the scope of urban makeovers - for both people and wildlife, says the Environment Agency.Ian Christie reports.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘regeneration’? Shiny new shopping malls, old ware-houses converted into expensive ‘lofts’? Probably not the image of locals restoring wetland or anglers enjoying a morning’s fishing, then?

Yet it’s fishing that has given a boost to neighbourhoods around the River Taff in south Wales. The return of salmon to the river after two centuries spurred the Environment Agency to get 300 children involved with local angling clubs through the Salmon Homecoming project. The fish taught the kids a lot more than you might think.

Besides picking up some handy tips on tackle, they brushed up on their environmental knowledge, numeracy, literacy and team working.

“If there really is a link between healthy rivers and thriving kids, why does so much regeneration tend to focus on hard-nosed economics?”

So if there really is a link between healthy rivers and thriving kids, why does so much regeneration tend to focus on hard-nosed economics and marginalise the value of the environment? The current approach seems to measure a project’s success by the number of jobs created or buildings refurbished.

But shouldn’t we be paying attention to what green spaces can bring to local economies and to the spirit of communities? Of course it’s not as easy to ‘capture’ this value as it is to measure the bricks, mortar, jobs or training courses in a project. But there is growing awareness that writing the environment out of the equation is a big mistake.

Research by the Environment Agency is uncovering encouraging - and sometimes surprising - connections between the natural environment and successful regeneration in disadvantaged areas. Having a green space where people can walk or do sports, volunteer or enjoy wildlife, can boost not only the local economy, but education, skills, health, trust and connections in local communities. And there are figures to show it. How much do you imagine a fine view over a high quality green space can add to the value of a property?

A far from trivial 5-7%. What about improving the quality of river waters? That can boost the value by 15%. Then there’s the tourism that these activities bring.

Take the flood risk scheme that the Environment Agency and RSPB undertook in Lincolnshire. The transformation of agricultural land threatened by rising sea levels into a saltmarsh nature reserve created local jobs and generated tourism in turn: 60,000 tourists visited Freiston Shore in 2003, spending £150,000 locally. There have been similar spin-offs from the wetland restoration project in a former coalmining area in Yorkshire.

The Old Moor project in Dearne Valley protected the area from flood risk at the same time as creating new habitats for wildlife and new recreation land for locals. You could even say the reserve has played a small but significant part in reducing stress levels: 90% of visitors said they felt calmer and happier after their visit. One of the most enduring benefits that doesn’t appear on the balance sheet is community bonding and pride.

At Old Moor, locals donned their wellies and got involved in conservation projects. They’re now helping steward the reserve. Not always easy to measure through conventional economics, renewal projects like these seem so much more successful in touching the parts of life that traditional, property-based regeneration schemes find it hard to reach. And how much longer they’ll sustain the community than a carpark planting scheme or a lick of paint on a new shopping mall…

Ian Christie is a freelance journalist specialising in sustainable development issues.

For more information on regeneration projects and research contact Claire Johnstone.

8 March 2006

Ian Christie