NbI connects diverse sources of information — including environmental monitoring, land-use data, economic signals and market trends — to build a comprehensive view of land systems.
Nature-based Intelligence
From Landscape Design to Economic Foresight
Nature-based Intelligence (NbI) is a decision platform that helps people make better decisions about land. By integrating environmental science, economic insight and digital tools, NbI connects what happens on land with long-term outcomes for nature, communities and the economy.
Developed through Criffel Futures and a network of collaborators, NbI sits at the intersection of land, nature and economic systems — turning complex environmental and financial information into practical decision support.
Why Nature-based Intelligence
Land systems underpin everything from food production and water security to regional economies and community wellbeing. Globally, land-based systems support trillions of dollars in economic activity and form the foundation of environmental resilience.
Yet decisions affecting these systems are often made with fragmented information, short time horizons and limited connection between environmental and economic outcomes.
This disconnect creates real challenges:
- Rising climate and environmental risks
- Increasing volatility across food and supply chains
- Declining ecosystem health despite growing investment
- Missed opportunities to create value through better land system design
Nature-based Intelligence exists to close this gap. By connecting science, economics and digital analytics, NbI provides the integrated intelligence needed to guide decisions across land, nature and economic systems.
What Nature-based Intelligence Does
Nature-based Intelligence transforms complex data into decision-ready insight.
The platform integrates information across land, water, biodiversity, climate and economics to support decisions ranging from individual land parcels to regional systems and supply chains.
NbI combines several layers of capability:
Integrated Environmental and Economic Data
Digital Modelling and Analytics
Advanced models translate data into insights that reveal relationships between land management, ecosystem health and economic performance.
Decision Support Tools
Practical digital tools support real-world decisions such as:
- Land management and planning
- Investment and lending decisions
- Supply-chain resilience and sourcing
- Biodiversity and ecosystem service markets
- Climate and environmental risk management
Scalable Digital Platforms
NbI solutions can operate across different scales — from farms and enterprises to sectors, regions and investment portfolios.
The result is a connected intelligence system that helps organisations reduce risk, unlock value and plan for long-term environmental and economic outcomes.
Who Nature-based Intelligence Serves
NbI supports a wide network of decision-makers working across land-based systems.
Who Is Building Nature-based Intelligence
Nature-based Intelligence is a collaborative initiative built by a network of experts spanning science, economics and land systems.
Criffel Futures – Dr Mandy Bell
Entrepreneur, veterinarian and director working at the intersection of land, food and health, with extensive experience in nature-based solutions and system transformation.
ESMAX – Dr Richard Morris
Agricultural scientist with more than 30 years of international experience and creator of the ESMAX land system design framework integrating Western science and mātauranga Māori.
Natural Insights – Ben Youngman
Environmental economist specialising in ecosystem service valuation, freshwater systems and the water–energy–food nexus.
Together, this network combines expertise in land system design, environmental economics, digital analytics and enterprise development.
The Opportunity
Nature-based Intelligence represents a new category of capability: decision intelligence for the land–nature–economy system.
By connecting environmental science, digital tools and economic insight, NbI enables:
- Better land-use decisions
- Stronger environmental outcomes
- More resilient supply chains
- Improved investment and economic performance
In a world facing increasing environmental and economic uncertainty, the ability to make better decisions about land is becoming one of the most important capabilities of the coming decades.
Get in touch
Get in touch to learn how Nature-based Intelligence supports better decisions about land – and how you can be part of it.