What it means
The four main earth systems include:
- land
- life
- water
- air
Generally they are open systems whose elements, boundary and relationships exit independently of human control.
Have your say
Your opinion, knowledge and ideas are extremely important to us so we can produce an inclusive, well informed City Downland Estate Plan.
Register your view on our Natural Systems theme
Each of the 4 themes have an online consultation for you to register your views.
These can be accessed on their individual pages or on our Have your say page.
View our maps
Below are a selection of maps displaying information on the natural capital assets for this theme, within our downland estate.
Please click on these to see a larger version. You can see more maps and explore information by using the online City Downland Estate Plan Map.
Agricultural Land Classification map
Click on the map to view it in more detail.
This map shows the quality of agricultural land within the downland estate, graded on a scale showing how limited the land is for food production.
Bedrock Classification
This map shows the geological make up of the land within our downland estate.
Biodiversity and Genetic Diversity
This map shows the areas identified as important for nature conservation and improvement.
Groundwater Source Protection Zones
This shows points where groundwater is extracted, and zones around those points where there is a risk of contamination from activities that might cause pollution.
