Francis Castro is an Ecologist and Local Authority Officer of over 20 years’ experience. He is a veteran of conservation and environmental policy in London and since 2023, works as a Biodiversity specialist at the Greater London Authority, overseeing preparation of the London Natural Recovery Strategy (LNRS). He is current chair of the London Wildlife Sites Board (LWSB), co-chair of the London Invasive Species Initiative (LISI) and Trustee of the Epping Forest Heritage Trust (EFHT).

Previously he worked for the London Borough of Redbridge and Vision RCL for over 17 years, leading the Nature Conservation Team, managing a team of Rangers delivering a wide range of projects. This included community engagement, volunteering opportunities and grounds maintenance to the Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) of the Borough. He also provided specialist ecological support to the Local Authorities planning, highways, regeneration and community engagement teams.

Key projects include the successful preparation and delivery of the Redbridge Biodiversity Action Plan, and successful bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to restore the SSSI, LNR and Metropolitan SINC, Hainault Forest.

A SINC of fondness for Francis, is Claybury Park and its ancient woodland, which he managed for over 17 years.

Cassandra Li is an ecologist trained in conservation ecology and environmental law, with practical experience developing and implementing biodiversity policy and nature restoration projects.

She leads borough-wide Local Nature Recovery initiatives at the London Borough of Hackney, working closely with regional partners to enhance ecological connectivity. She is a trustee of London Natural History Society and co-organiser of London Bryophyte Group and London Lichen Group.

Previously, she held leadership roles at The Conservation Volunteers, overseeing urban ecological management, volunteer programmes, and community engagement in Haringey. Her earlier experience includes developing climate change policy initiatives in China.

A SINC she is particularly connected to is Railway Fields Nature Reserve, a small oasis in bustling Green Lanes, where she began her biodiversity career in the UK. 

As the Senior Data & Systems Officer at Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC (GiGL), Amy has managed the London-wide SINC dataset since 2020, alongside proposed SINCs and Area of Deficiency in Access to Nature. In this role, Amy has built relationships with a diverse range of partners, from London’s Planning Authorities to community groups. She works to uphold high data standards and maintain robust systems that support this critical network of sites, helping to ensure these vital spaces are understood, valued, and preserved.

Amy has a keen interest freshwater ecology, developed during her time with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), where she worked alongside global experts to assess species extinction risk and identify Key Biodiversity Areas. She also has a love for conservation communication and a bit of a soft spot for birds developed during internships with ZSL’s Education department and BirdLife International, respectively.

Growing up in east London, Amy was fortunate to have access to many SINCs right on her doorstep. Among her favourite sites are Dagnam Park and Hatter’s Wood, where she made many cherished memories exploring the woods and ponds, and Bedfords Park, where she once volunteered in the (rather lovely) visitor centre.

Mark has been studying London’s plant-life for over 25 years. In the past, he worked for the London Wildlife Trust as a Habitat Surveyor undertaking SINC reviews; he continues to support and advise local groups and communities on the SINC review process and the importance of recording nature. For twelve years he was Senior Curator of the British and Irish Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, during which time he instigated or collaborated on a number of projects on Invasive Species and Climate Change. Mark helped establish the London Invasive Species Initiative (LISI). Currently, he is an independent botany consultant and the London Natural History Society’s Vascular Plant Co-recorder and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland’s Middlesex Vice-county Co-recorder; in these roles he is leading a project to publish a New Flora for the London Area and in preparation for that has recently completed work to produce Axiophyte (indicator species) and Red lists for Greater London and Middlesex’s increasingly threatened plant-life.

Mark fell in Love with Crayford Marsh and the adjoining area in the early 2000s while undertaking habitat surveys for Bexley’s SINC review. The Marsh has a fascinating and complex human history and still retains some of London’s most notable ancient landscape. The area remains under-recorded, particularly for invertebrates but is probably worthwhile of SSSI designation. The area also hosted, until its recent extinction at the hands of thoughtless management, one of London’s rarest plants – Marsh Sowthistle (Sonchus palustris). Thankfully, seed was saved and the plant has been introduced to several nearby sites.

Since moving to London over 10 years ago, Rosie was a private consultant and undertook a range of SINC reviews for LB Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham. As a consultant with the London Wildlife Trust, her work on the Hackney’s SINC review, also involved preparation of London’s very first Borough level, Local Nature Recovery Plan. As a resident of Newham, Rosie has experienced the SINC review process from a different perspective, specifically engagement with the community, a particular passion for Rosie, being part of a 60 strong community garden network. Rosie has since worked for LB of Sutton for two years, being involved in land management and monitoring surveys of the mostly chalk grassland SINCs. Now at LB of Brent, she is lead in Ecology/BNG in the planning department. As a landscape ecologist and advocate for community engagement, Rosie has experience of the SINC review process from many angles.

With no preferred SINC, Rosie favourite animal character is Slime Mould: because she thinks in networks and systems not sites or species, and her plant character is Red Valerian; Because she’s tried countless times to establish the plant in her garden but without much success. It’s got attitude, debunking typical behaviour, doing what it wants, not what people want it to do.