Natural Assets
Natural assets provide numerous societal, economic and environmental benefits to the broader community (e.g., such as air pollution, cooling, water quantity and quality management, mental health benefits) on all lands within Oxford County. Traditionally, these benefits are often undervalued or go unrecognized in financial processes, leading to an increased risk of mismanagement and loss of natural infrastructure.
Overall, the intent of this AMP is to align natural asset planning and management with practices already in place for built and engineered assets. The natural assets included in this plan are split into three separate but linked categories: terrestrial natural assets (e.g. woodlands, wetlands, meadows, etc.), aquatic assets (e.g. groundwater features, watercourses and waterbodies) and soil assets.
Inventory
The County owns a total of 309 distinct properties used to deliver various services throughout Oxford County. As a starting point for creating the inventory, all properties were separated by their ecological land classification to assess the different natural assets on each property using existing information from the draft Oxford Natural Heritage Systems Study, 2023 (ONHSS), undertaken by the Community Planning Office in partnership with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.
| Asset Component | Current Inventory (County owned) - Hectares | Total Inventory (all lands within County boundary) | Percentage of natural asset that is County Owned |
| Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) | 158 | 2,775 | 5.7% |
| Meadow and Thicket | 302 | 6,023 | 5.0% |
| Watercourses and Waterbodies | 53 | - | - |
| Wetlands | 445 | 13,719 | 3.2% |
| Woodlands | 794 | 16,423 | 2.9% |
Levels of Service
Natural assets on County properties provide a variety of services throughout the County, with the ecological condition of the natural asset directly impacting the level of service provided. Many of the assets impact groundwater which is critical to sustaining many of the wetland and watercourse features within the County. Additionally, nearly 100% of the communities in Oxford County rely on groundwater for drinking water supply, whether through the 17 municipal drinking water systems or by private well.
| Service Provided | Aquifers / Sourcewater | Meadow and Thicket | Soils | Surface Water (Watercourses and Waterbodies) | Woodlands | Wetlands |
| Water storage of drinking water source | ✔ | |||||
| Water filtration through soil towards aquifer improves water quality | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Carbon sequestration reduces and limits the impacts of medium to long term climate change | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Soil quality leads to agricultural, biodiversity and water quality impacts | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Soil erosion reductions meant to reduce impact on buildings, roads, and other infrastructure assets | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Biodiversity improvements lead to improved agricultural outcomes through pollination, improved wildlife health through protected habitats and food sources, and a wider variety of ecosystem biomass | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Stormwater management leads to a reduction of the impact of severe storms and floods and increases the filtering effect of water going into the watershed | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Recreational benefits lead to a human centered focus on access to natural areas for recreation and tourism | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Tree canopy leads to local temperature, air quality improvements, wind and noise reductions combined with increased resiliency in urban and semi-urban settings | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Water quality improvements minimize the impacts of nitrates and other pollutants in sourcewater and surface water quality | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |