Winchester council backs nature as critical infrastructure

That case was previously reinforced by the Government’s published Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security assessment.

Published by the Department for the Environment , this is not an environmental campaigning document. It is a cross-government strategic assessment developed by analysts and experts across HM Government, drawing together scientific evidence, expert judgement and national-security analysis. Its purpose is to support long-term UK resilience planning. 

Its conclusion is stark: “Nature is the foundation of national security.” The assessment warns that degradation of natural systems threatens food, water, health and supply chains and can cascade into economic insecurity, geopolitical instability and conflict.

The seriousness of its findings has now received further Parliamentary recognition. The House of Commons Library published a dedicated briefing on the assessment this month, ahead of a Westminster debate. 

We do not need  to look overseas to see why resilience matters.

This summer’s prolonged hot and dry weather has hit British farming hard. Wheat yields have been around 13% below the five-year average and spring barley around 26% below. Here in Hampshire, drought increased pressures on water resources and agriculture.

Livestock farmers face another vulnerability through the substantial bluetongue BTV-3 outbreak, transmitted by biting midges, while changing temperatures can also alter the survival and life cycles of agricultural pests.

Perhaps the starkest warning concerns human health: UK Health Safety Agency estimated 2,877 heat-associated deaths in England during the May and June 2026 heat waves alone.

These impacts have different causes and should not simply be attributed to biodiversity loss. But collectively they illustrate something fundamental: nature, climate, water, food and human health form an interconnected system.

The Government assessment highlights our vulnerability as a country importing around 40% of its food, while domestic production is itself threatened by deteriorating environmental conditions, soil health and ecosystem resilience.

If nature underpins national resilience, it must also underpin how Hampshire plans for growth, housing, infrastructure and economic development.

As the new Hampshire and the Solent Combined Authority develops our Growth Plan and Spatial Development Strategy, they should establish a Natural Capital Framework identifying the natural assets our economy and communities depend upon, the pressures they face and where investment in nature can increase resilience.

Our natural assets, ecosystem services and landscapes should be planned for with the same seriousness as roads, reservoirs and energy networks.

The Government National Security assessment concludes that protecting and restoring natural ecosystems is “easier, cheaper and more reliable” than trying to replace their functions after they deteriorate.

Nature is not an obstacle to growth. It is a fundamental part of the infrastructure that underpins sustainable and resilient prosperity. 

The evidence is becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss. Recognition is no longer the challenge. The evidence is now clear. The task for Hampshire and the Solent is to ensure that nature is planned for, protected and invested in as strategically as any other critical infrastructure

Cllr Danny Lee
Leader, Independent & Green Group
Winchester City Council

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