In this first issue of The GIGLer, we’ve followed GiGL from humble roots to its current position – the recognised one-stop-shop for greenspace information in London. So what does the future hold for GiGL? Trevor James, NBN Development Officer gives us a glimpse of things to come.
The National Biodiversity Network is a new and innovative way of sharing wildlife information, building tools that make digitised information accessible across the UK.This information is already becoming available through the NBN Gateway – an online portal that houses biodiversity data from across the UK.
This goal is a step closer now that the Gateway has become the focus of a new project between the NBN, GiGL and the London Natural History Society. The project aims to computerise LNHS records, and to make these and other data available to users of the Gateway. Funding was needed to ensure the success of the project and here Defra came into the frame.The NBN Trust has a contract with Defra to allow funding for projects that have development potential for the National Biodiversity Network as a whole.
This new project will see key LNHS records of higher plants, birds, dragonflies and damselflies collated and validated by GiGL, and made available online through the Gateway. Records will remain under GiGL’s control, under agreement with the LNHS. At the same time, GiGL is developing its own website, which will present selected data as maps and site related lists, using the NBN’s newly developed web-services.The Greater London Authority is also contributing brief site descriptions for accessible wildlife sites.
The medium term plan is to make more detailed habitat information available in the same way, but the Gateway needs further development before this becomes a reality. In anticipation of this next stage of development, a partnership project between GiGL, the NBN, LNHS, the GLA and two London boroughs aims to digitise the remaining habitat data from London’s wildlife sites. This will give GiGL complete digital coverage of the capital’s habitats for the first time and enable GiGL to provide a more comprehensive service for its customers and partners.
Web-services being developed by the NBN this year include the facility to provide automated reports for sites with defined boundaries, direct from a user’s desktop geographical information system software.This will allow a third party user, such as a borough planning officer, to gain access to basic data from GiGL’s and other providers’ datasets.To take advantage of this, users must have the necessary levels of access to data both from GiGL and from other data suppliers.
In the first instance, this will be limited to data about pre-defined wildlife sites, but, as the amount of data and the capability of the NBN Gateway to service these needs increases, it should be possible for a user to define the boundaries they are interested in, and to submit a query from their desktop software, negating the need to use the Gateway portal or contact GiGL direct.
With the increasing power of the Gateway, and the current and increasing coverage of its data, it will soon be possible to have automatically updated distribution maps and site reports readily available both to the public and, in greater detail, to GiGL’s partners.
The LNHS and GiGL pilot project will provide a crucial local connection with biodiversity record centres, demonstrating the possibilities afforded by the Gateway. The NBN Trust would be pleased to see this project provide the stimulus for similar projects elsewhere.
Search the NBN Gateway at https://data.nbn.org.uk/