Axiophytes, which translates to “worthy plants”, aren’t necessarily rare or widespread. Instead, they’re plants that act as ecological storytellers, indicating habitats with high conservation value…
Partnership Working
Ealing Wildlife Group Newt Surveys
The newt survey season runs from April to June, during which we conducted torch surveys and bottle trapping across several sites. There is a huge amount of satisfaction when you find a newt caught in the trap…
The Great London Pond Project
The Great London Pond Project is a partnership project between the Zoological Society of London, Freshwater Habitats Trust and GiGL, and is supported by the Mayor of London. The wider aim of the project is to restore and increase the number of vital pond habitats for London…
Reinstating Constable’s Branch Hill Pond
Reinstating Branch Hill pond is a collaborative project initiated by the local Redington Frognal Association and with a big contribution from the City of London Corporation who own and manage Hampstead Heath…
London White Stork Working Group
At Citizen Zoo, we are very excited to announce we are exploring the potential return of majestic white storks to London. White storks (Ciconia ciconia) are an unmistakable and inspiring species that have symbolised hope, regrowth and new life for millennia…
London Geodiversity Partnership
The aim of the London Geodiversity Partnership (LGP) is to identify, conserve, and make available to researchers and interested members of the public, the most important sites of geological interest in Greater London…
Hedgehogs in Bromley: A Recent Cause for Concern
Hedgehogs are the subject of a Species Action Plan in the London Borough of Bromley. Bromley Biodiversity Partnership has been running a Citizen Science Hedgehog Survey since 2017…
Developing an Axiophyte List and Rare Plant Register for Greater London and Middlesex
Axiophytes, Greek for ‘worthy plant’, are plant species which are indicators of habitats of interest for nature conservation….Rare Plant Registers (RPR) are a record of the rare plants found in an area…. The RPR should, alongside the Axiophyte List, provide Local Authorities, developers, ecologists and conservation managers with a valuable resource…
London’s New B-Line
B-Lines are pathways that link up existing pollinator friendly habitats which can be used to focus efforts of habitat creation and restoration along their length. Hopefully over the coming years we will see a real increase in pollinator numbers from the establishment and influence of the B-Line network.
GLA 10 Minute Walk map
In his manifesto the Mayor pledged to ‘improve London’s network of green corridors and open spaces so that more Londoners live within a 10-minute walk of a green space’. In order to make this happen, the Mayor first needs to know what areas within London are more than a 10 minute walk from a green space. That is where GiGL, as London’s Local Environmental Records Centre, comes in.
More than just a park: A Sutton perspective
…Residents have a huge part to play in ensuring Sutton’s parks are more than just grass and some trees. People need to know how valuable parks can be outside of the traditional definition, and take the initiative by getting involved in existing groups (or even creating their own)….. We know one thing for sure – we must aim for more than just a “park”…
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….
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.
London River Restoration Opportunity Mapping
A 20 year review of river restoration across London published at London Rivers Week 2020 identified the importance of river restoration for delivering a range of social and economic benefits, such as contributing to health and wellbeing and reducing flood risk …
The Riverfly Monitoring Initiative: an update
It was over six years ago that ZSL wrote an article in the GiGLer about the launch of the Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (RMI) Hub within London. The project has been busy ever since. In spring 2014 the first ZSL led training events were offered on the River Crane and the Hogsmill. Since then the scheme has expanded to include groups of citizen scientists on 16 rivers within Greater London…
Nature at Home
This spring Londoners have helped protect each other by curtailing our daily travels to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This has also, necessarily, affected our trips to visit greenspaces and see wildlife. We are still receiving records from people’s gardens, of wildlife spotted through windows or from permitted walks…
Mapping Dragons
The GiGL team were trying to think of a fun way to celebrate April fool’s day. What map could we generate and share with our community? After deliberating on the usual mythical candidates we settled on the idea of dragons; thinking to ourselves that there must be data out there that we could use to create a fun map…
Show & Tell: Lunch and Learn Event
At GiGL we are mindful that many of our stakeholders work with us directly via their service contracts, or to exchange data, but we rarely meet in a group unless it’s focused on a task in hand. With that in mind, GiGL held its first ‘lunch and learn’ event on 12th February 2020…
It takes a team to create a report
GiGL’s flagship report, the ecological desktop study, presents a snapshot of the GiGL Partnership’s knowledge of a site or an area. The report is the culmination of a lot of time and effort to collate information about the whole of London; so we wanted to lift the lid on the process of what goes into creating this report…
Bigger, Greener and more London-y: The relaunch of #GoParksLondon for National Park City
On the 22nd of July 2019 London became the world’s first National Park City; and this celebration of London’s natural environment has sparked a city-wide interest in the capital’s greenspaces. While there is no official change to how London is managed, the National Park City movement aims to shift the mindset of Londoners to a greener, healthier and wilder city…
Recording London’s Mulberry Tree Heritage
Until the first London Recorders’ Day conference, I had no idea that I, and Morus Londinium, the project I helped to set up nearly three years ago, was part of a community. But there I was, the final speaker in a day of fascinating presentations, showcasing the extraordinary creativity and dedication of those recording, mapping and helping to preserve biodiversity in London…
Great Expectations
The draft Mayor’s London Environment Strategy was published last summer, and after a 14 week consultation period that ran from August to November 2017, which received several thousand responses including ours, the final strategy was published at the end of May 2018. The remit of the strategy is very broad…
Mapping London’s Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land
CPRE London have recently published a report on London’s Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land (MOL), for which GiGL provided our expertise, including data analysis, visualisations and maps. The report aims to raise awareness of MOL and provide information on its distribution, along with that of Green Belt…
Show & Tell: Net Gain for Biodiversity
Achieving biodiversity net gain means that changes brought about by development conclude with biodiversity faring better than it did before works took place. This should ideally be at the same location, but where that is not possible may be achieved by improvements for biodiversity in other locations…
Royal Projects
2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the close, ongoing partnership between GiGL and The Royal Parks. The first GiGL Royal Parks Officer, Ian Woodward, appointed in 2007, set up the Royal Parks biological records system to GiGL standards. Since then, the role has …
Money Grows on Trees
A new report values London’s public green spaces in excess of £91 billion and shows that every £1 spent on public green space has a 27-fold return in value. The Mayor of London, in partnership with the National Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund, has produced the report …
Water for Wildlife
The Freshwater Habitats Trust is a national organisation dedicated to protecting all freshwater life. Our largest current project, the Heritage Lottery funded “People, Ponds and Water” has been running since 2015. We are helping volunteers to take an active part …
Show & Tell: Stag Beetle Forms
For several years now, one of our most reliable signs of spring at GiGL has been the trickle of stag beetle records sent via our website. The first records in March and April herald the upcoming busy season of stag beetle spotting …
Liveable Cities
The concepts behind ecosystem services, the multitude of ways in which humankind freely benefit from natural capital, have long been discussed. City planners need tools and guidance to develop strategies for urban development that value and protect natural capital, and some industry standards require businesses to demonstrate net gain outcomes.
London Under Pressure
In London, we will need to build many new homes, schools and other public facilities to meet housing demand and support continued population growth. How can we factor London’s biodiversity into the densification of the city? London’s planning system, which aims to provide the housing and other …
Making the Connection
GiGL is no longer the new kid on the block. One of the joys of having been around for a while, is being able to introduce people and organisations to each other. Earlier this year, we were approached by Keiron Brown of the Earthworm Society of Britain, looking for the earthworm county recorder for London. We were quick to point him in the direction of …
Life of Churchyards
I first introduced the Diocese of London’s churchyard ecology survey to GiGLer readers in 2013, when the project was just beginning. We have now extended the scope of the project to cover the whole of Greater London, making this the first comprehensive survey of churchyards in the capital. The entire database of London churchyards …
Verifying Odonata
Here at GiGL, we can receive hundreds, sometimes thousands of records in a week. People send us records because they have a lifelong passion for the subject, or simply because they were intrigued by something they found in their garden.
The Consultants’ Portal
Working in association with CIEEM and ALERC, the National Biodiversity Network has created the consultants portal to address the lack of a standard sharing process for biological records collected by environmental consultants.
Crime Against Nature
A housing development company has become the first to be prosecuted by the Metropolitan Police Service for destroying a bat roost. Unhappy with the outcome of an ecological survey, C&WD asked the ecologists to change the probability of use by roosting bats to low.
LISI Update
It is with no small sense of frustration that when LISI’s funding ended earlier this year, we were unable to secure further external funding to maintain Karen’s role as project manager in the long term. Karen has had to leave us for pastures new whilst the wider LISI business group consider our next steps.
LNHS Collaborations
LNHS remit is the study and recording of natural history, archaeology and other kindred subjects especially within twenty miles of St Paul’s Cathedral. Things have moved on since John Swindell’s article in the July 2006 issue. The LNHS and GiGL exchange biological records on a regular basis and GiGL has frequently been able to assist LNHS in …
Bat Map
The nocturnal habits of bats make them intrinsically difficult for human observers to study. In Greater London, those interested in discovering more on the ecology and conservation status of bats face additional obstacles. Firstly, there is a lot of inaccessible, privately owned land. Secondly, Greater London is a huge area to cover.
Here Be Dragons
Froglife is a UK wildlife charity committed to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. Their ‘Dragon Finder’ app was developed and launched as part of the London Dragon Finder project, an ambitious city wide amphibian and reptile conservation project that included practical habitat restoration work, and educational outreach activities.
Modelling Risk
Recently, GiGL and LISI produced a range of predictive risk model layers for London for various invasive non-native species. Risk modelling is only as good as the data behind it, which is what made this project so innovative. We were able to use local data to create the model on a local scale, down to 100m² …
Making a B-Line
As most people are well aware, bees and other pollinating insects are in trouble. Honeybees, bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths all provide valuable pollination services for the flowers, fruits and vegetables that we grow in our parks, gardens and allotments. They are also important for ensuring that natural and semi-natural …
The Ludwigia Front Line
Of course, having avidly read my previous GiGLer articles, you will know all about the invasive non-native species Ludwigia grandiflora. But what you might not know is that there are other types of Ludwigia growing in London as well. Meet Ludwigia x kentiana, or Kent’s Hampshire-Purslane, a nondescript small hybrid herbaceous aquatic plant currently …
A different perspective
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment popularised the concept of ‘ecosystem services’; making sure nature is considered in decision-making by measuring and accounting for the benefits it provides to human wellbeing. The value of some services such as pollination of agricultural crops can be measured, however not all services are so easily quantified.
Reimagining London
Reimagine London is a project that invites Londoners to dream of how their city could be improved. London is an inspirational city. It is well known for its built and cultural heritage, but it also has an incredible natural heritage. London’s invaluable mosaic of gardens, woods, parks and nature reserves covers 47% of the capital. It is these spaces that make London …
The i-Tree Eco Survey
This year, over three hundred volunteers from all walks of life, professionals and ordinary members of the public, came together to undertake the largest urban tree and woodland survey of its kind in the world; the RELEAF London i-Tree Eco survey. After being postponed because of the Olympics in 2012 and logistical issues in 2013, we have now succeeded …
London Geology Guide
It’s not always possible, especially in an urban environment, to see the geology beneath our feet. Only in temporary excavations and in the greener parts of Greater London can geological sites be clearly seen. Unfortunately, many of these are disappearing fast under bricks and mortar. The London Geodiversity Partnership aims to protect the best …
Masses of moths
GiGL currently holds nearly 2.8 million species records. Whilst I can’t claim to have input all of those records myself, I can lay claim to just over 1.5 million.
In recent years, the greatest number of records has come to GiGL as large datasets from established recording schemes such as the London Natural History Society.
River Citizen Scientists
I’m pleased to write that my article on ZSL’s European eel monitoring project for the GiGLer in December 2012 successfully attracted new partners and volunteers to the project. I’m hopeful this article might do the same for another citizen science project ZSL are initiating. But first, let me bring you up to date with the latest news from our eel monitoring in the Thames region.
Seething Wells
A planning application to develop the largest area of standing water in Kingston upon Thames was defeated last year. The application proposed to construct sixty-four floating homes on the Seething Wells former filter beds, with the addition of a restaurant, a marina and a lock which would open an area of standing water to the River Thames. Permission was refused on the grounds that residential development on …
Species alert: Water Primrose
With this year’s growing season starting earlier than normal, we all need to be aware of the possible invasive non-native species that might be popping up in our reserves, parks and open spaces. Over the past couple of years, our attention has turned to a relatively new arrival in Great Britain and in London. Meet water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora) an aquatic invasive non-native species originally from South America.