The Well-being Economy and the restoration of nature

The conservation of nature and the development of the local economy are two core functions of a Biosphere. But how do we keep those in balance? Two events late last year brought this question into focus. Darllen yn Gymraeg

Developing a healthy economy that does not undermine the ecosystems that support us is a key purpose of a Biosphere. We are a living lab where people experiment with new ways of doing things, matching our beautiful surroundings with livelihoods that are creative and rewarding, and living lightly on the land. But what does that mean exactly?

The concept of the well-being economy, sometimes popularised as ‘doughnut economics’ is popular now. It is a key part of the Future Generations agenda, and was the subject of a Festival of Ideas in Swansea last November, which the Biosphere attended. As the organisers, WE Cymru, asked: 

How are governments, organisations, businesses, and local communities changing the way they work, to enable a new economic system to emerge? And what does it mean to unhook from extractive and destructive economic systems, and instead invest in things that create long term, sustainable wellbeing?

We heard on the one hand from large employers like Hywel Dda Health Board, which act as ‘anchors’ with considerable spending power that can benefit their host communities, for instance through procurement of food and other services. On the other, we were inspired by a cluster of social enterprises under the umbrella of Cwmni Cymunedol Bro Ffestiniog which are generating a buzz of activity and rewarding jobs in food, tourism, leisure and the arts. Also present were Oxfam Cymru with their report Vision for a Just Cymru, and a wide range of other voluntary organisations.

It is an area of work we would like to develop in the Biosphere, drawing on the pioneering work of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, who have used doughnut economics as the foundation for their management plan.

As a first step, we recently organised a webinar on 'nature finance'. This is the term for spending and investment that supports nature recovery, and it can be as simple as a grant to plant a wildflower garden. It is however usually taken to mean private finance, for instance corporate investment in higher standards of food production, or more controversially planting trees to offset aviation emissions. It also covers public investment, such as the higher levels of the Sustainable Farming Scheme, and it can be very ambitious, working across landscapes.

Chaired by Liz Lewis-Reddy of FERA Science, and formerly of Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s  Pumlumon Project, the webinar opened with Cath Howell, Head of Natural Capital at Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. In her introduction to nature finance, from private philanthropy up to corporate investment and pension funds, she stressed the importance of place-based approaches that can bring people together to find common ground.

The nature/finance gap in Wales is worth billions, and we lag behind England in developing the compliance markets that would, for instance, allow nutrient trading between housing developments and farmers. But we have an opportunity too to learn from other places and build something better here.

Alice Briggs of Tir Canol spoke about the hard lessons they had learned as Summit to Sea from advocating large-scale ‘rewilding’ backed by external finance (see their 2020 report). The project had later turned away a grant worth over £2 million in the interests of developing a programme built on extensive consultation with local communities. Now funded by Esmee Fairbairn, they have recently been investigating the financing of ‘blue carbon’, that is, the carbon stored by coastal and marine ecosystems - but that’s another story. 

Finally, Chris Harris of the Living Levels partnership in Gwent, a pastoral landscape with large urban areas and a coast vulnerable to erosion, described how Lottery funding has been paying for nature restoration since the project began in 2018. Short project funding cycles work against the generations-long process of farming, and he would like to ‘lock local businesses into the landscape’ for a longer term commitment.

All this however calls for major work on the political economy of Wales. We need a community wealth fund and land reform, following the Scottish example of a community right-to-buy. Could place-based partnerships rooted in practical action help to shape that?

Watch the webinar here: Nature finance and well-being economics

Join the Welsh Forum on Finance for the Sustainable Management of Land and Water in Wales 

Read Designing for Life: Reimagining nature finance, from the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance

Listen to Cath and others discuss Nature Governance and Finance for Future Generations, recorded at the 2025 Wales Real Food and Farming Conference