Peat bogs and moorland are hugely important carbon stores, but we have destabilised many of the peat bogs In England and Wales by draining them. Simply put, if you put back the water and support recolonisation by sphagnum moss, the peatlands will rejuvenate and rebuild and grow their carbon storage capacity and help us to lock away more carbon.

Native deciduous woodland and in particular ancient woodland is incredibly biodiverse. These woods have evolved alongside many different species of lichen, plants, invertebrates, animals and birds over thousands of years into rich and complex ecosystems. Woodland also stores carbon, provides natural flood management, improves air quality and contributes to our health and wellbeing.

In the last 70 years our farmland has become much more intensely farmed at the expense of trees and hedges. Trees and hedges can help to build resilience into the farmed landscape by, for instance, providing shelter and water quality management. They also form vital wildlife corridors where important pollinating insects such as butterflies, small mammals including bats and dormice and nesting birds can live and move across the landscape.

Species-rich grassland is home to a huge diversity of plant life; each type of grassland supports complex associations of plants, invertebrates, fungi and birds, including many which are threatened. Species-rich grassland is valuable for farmers in keeping soil healthy and carbon-rich, protecting soil from erosion and providing diverse forage for livestock.

Wetlands are highly biologically diverse and productive ecosystems which support many endangered species of wildlife. Both saltwater and freshwater tidal marshes serve important functions in buffering stormy seas, controling shoreline erosion, sequestering carbon, offering shelter and nesting sites for migratory water birds, and absorbing excess nutrients that can reduce water quality and harm wildlife.

Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving soil and the health of the land to make agricultural production more sustainable using ecological principles. Management practices such as conservation tillage, cover crops and crop rotation used in regenerative agriculture feed into better crop performance, pasture and livestock health and farm resilience, whilst also reducing inputs which disrupt natural systems.

Our landscapes may be hugely influenced by our activities, but if space is made for nature, given time, it will re-establish wildlife filled ecosystems which are highly resilient. Particularly if sites are chosen adjacent to existing diverse environments, such as mixed deciduous woodland, species rich grassland or healthy wetland, birds, mammals and invertebrates will colonise the site and support ecosystem restoration.

Including trees in cultivated land and livestock grazing adds to the productive capacity of land by using a greater range of resources, for example through trees or crops using sunlight for different parts of the growing season, or using different soil nutrients. Having a greater range of crops helps to diversify the farmed environment. The mix of crops makes the land itself more resilient, building biodiverse crop ecosystems, stabilising soils, helping moisture to percolate deeper, and supporting microorganism populations in soils. Trees can provide shelter to crops and livestock by modifying the effects of extreme weather.

Trees can help to cool rural and urban landscapes by providing shade and by evapotranspiration. The canopy blocks solar radiation from heating up hard surfaces in our built environment and helps to keep water courses cooler. When the sun’s rays hit the trees’ canopy, evapotranspiration occurs, and water evaporates from the leaves. This cools them down – just as sweating cools our skin – thereby reducing the amount of energy left to warm the air.

The intensity of our activities has already weakened biodiversity in our landscapes significantly and the rate of climate change will heighten the pressures which threaten to destabilise the natural world. Highly diverse, balanced ecosystems are more resilient in extreme conditions as the complex connections and interrelationships which they have help them to survive and adapt to changing conditions.

Mosses and lichens are important pioneer species. Mosses are primitive plants and lichens are a partnership of fungi and algae living together. They capture and store carbon, help nutrient cycling, contribute to other fundamental ecosystem processes and have valuable detoxifying effects. Their presence in an area can be a sign of a healthy habitat. Sphagnum moss has a particular role in peat bogs where its sponge like ability to hold water slows down decomposition, thus storing large amounts of carbon.

Intensive agricultural systems have seriously depleted our soils of some of their key components, in particular organic matter and beneficial microorganisms, including fungi and bacteria. Soil microorganisms play a vital role in decomposing organic matter, and nutrient cycling and making key nutrients available to plants. Through symbiotic relationships, they help plants to take up nutrients which are essential for plant growth and food production. They also have an important role in developing healthy soil structure.