Lyndsey Cox, GiGL Senior Community Officer

Example of information available on Discover-London

The outdated iGiGL, GiGL’s previous online mapping facility, has been retired and we’re now delighted to present a new way to view London through our updated discovery map www.gigl.org.uk/discoverlondon.

The new interactive map has been redesigned and rebranded. Sixteen separate layer options have been simplified into five practical themes (see below). The important data are still there but they have been packaged in a new way, resulting in a more streamlined experience. The map itself is cleaner looking, faster and more user friendly. Use the search feature to locate a particular park or open space then find out more through the factsheets linked to each site; investigate London’s landscapes: the Natural England Character Areas or London Wildlife Trust’s Living Landscapes, or open the Recording Support theme to check on borough boundaries, vice-county info and confirm the London Natural History Society recording area.

Discover London’s Themes

  • Sites to Visit – discover London’s accessible wildlife sites and other open spaces
  • Wildlife Crime – discover the incidents London’s Wildlife Crime Units are facing each month
  • Rivers and Waterbodies – discover the network of London’s “blue spaces”
  • London Landscapes – discover some of the unique landscapes London has to offer
  • Recording Support – discover the commonly used recording areas in London to assist your wildlife recording

The aim of Discover-London is to encourage the exploration of the wider Greater London area by the general public, enabling anyone who is interested to discover more about their natural surroundings. We’ve removed the log-in which was a part of the old iGiGL site, so everyone can now access the full suite of data currently displayed for non-commercial use.

Not all of the data held by GiGL are currently on Discover-London however, and there isn’t as yet the facility to download any of the data shown on the map. Anyone looking to access any of the data which GiGL holds, not just the data on Discover-London, can still contact GiGL staff or request a data search report.

Whilst Discover-London is already far superior to the old iGiGL, we haven’t finished its development; watch this space for further improvements in our online platforms. We are already planning to add additional themes to Discover-London and are looking at new ways to deliver data through both upload and download capabilities.

We are happy to receive feedback on the map and are interested to hear what other features you would like to see. Please send any comments to Lyndsey Cox.