One of the best things about GiGL is the exchange of data where both parties gain; I verify records to remove erroneous identifications or confirm rare sightings, and gain new records in return….
Issue 31
Issue 31: Summer editorial
After a busy start to the New Year, GiGL have been forging ahead with our work as London’s Environmental Record Centre. If you’ve been keeping up with our monthly articles you’ll already know we’ve been working away at a huge range of topics in 2022…
Rewild London: Haringey’s Ancient Woodlands
Following the announcement of a successful bid for the Rewild London Fund, Haringey has commenced ambitious plans to restore ancient woodlands within the borough. The grant which was supported by the Mayor of London, in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust, will enable us to focus on both short and long-term outcomes that address the ecological emergency and ensure sites are better managed, bigger and better connected….
Celebrating our Verifiers: Leslie Williams
Butterfly records are made by a large community of Londoners, often volunteering their time. And to all of you, thank you…As a verifier I have a small role in checking the data inputs to help ensure the quality of the data and of the outputs…Most people probably do not set out to become ‘verifiers’, but the role can evolve from experience…
Sutton’s Garden Resource
Whilst the borough’s SINCs and open spaces have a known value for wildlife, gardens in contrast are an enigma, we have little idea of their value or how they are managed…Gardens are where Sutton residents have a very real power to protect, conserve and create life, if they want too.
Celebrating our Verifiers: Derek Crawley
The greatest benefit of working with GiGL is that we have up to date, verified records that can be shared. This is important both to monitor trends in the population but also to ensure they are represented in planning developments…
(Re-)introducing GiGL’s Data Search Reports – giving nature a voice in the planning process
“With the Environment Act and the new requirements for Biodiversity Net Gain and Local Nature Recovery Strategies, as well as the climate and ecological emergencies, it is more important than ever that decision making is based on a robust evidence base…”
Volunteering at GiGL
“Volunteers have always been a key part of GiGL, whether they’re working hard to help us get through the mountains of data that we receive or participating in large online projects digitising record cards. Volunteers feature as an important branch of GiGL’s network along with our partners, staff and advisors that are vital to our function as an Environmental Records Centre…”
Joy of Recording: Dave Clark
I might like playing with numbers and dataset type thingies, yet despite my best efforts to digitalise and enumerate it`s nature`s unpredictability which is the real draw …
The Royal Society of Biology London Branch Launches “BALCONY WATCH”
With the ever-greater changes in our natural world, leading to increasing threats to biodiversity and habitat loss, we feel that there is no better time to show people the wonders that exist in their own inner-city spaces and how they can feel empowered to make a positive difference “one balcony at a time” …
Introducing GiGL’s new POSAoD maps
In June 2021, GiGL’s Database Officer Amy introduced you to the updates we’ve been making to our Areas of Deficiency (AoD) models, starting with Areas of Deficiency in Access to Nature (SINCAoD). Now it is the turn of GiGL’s Areas of Deficiency in Access to Public Open Space (POSAoD) maps, which will be released to our SLA partners in April as part of GiGL’s Data Exchange.
Interview: Becca Jordan
Environmental data is the foundation of making good decisions about how we use our spaces, especially in a city like London, so it’s vital that this data is high-quality and reliably-sourced. It feels good to know that I’m contributing to this process while also learning more about the different habitats and spaces in London as I go …
Interview: Victoria Kleanthous
Patterns and trends can only be drawn out by having access to well-maintained and curated data, an important service LERCs provide around the country. I’m proud to act as a custodian of some of this data on behalf of GiGL and everyone that we work with …
GiGL’s Spaces to Visit dataset
… as part of GiGL’s commitment to provide a benefit to our community we created the Spaces to Visit dataset in April 2020. This is a subset of GiGL’s Open Space dataset that provides a source of information on the locations of open spaces in Greater London that are available to the public as destinations for leisure, activities and community engagement. It also includes green corridors that provide opportunities for walking and cycling …