| London Wildlife Trust is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts which form a
nationwide network of local nature conservation charities. Together we take action to
protect the UK's natural world in town and country. The Wildlife Trusts care for more than
2,300 nature reserves. The partnership campaigns for the protection of wildlife and
invests in the future by helping people of all ages to gain a greater appreciation and
understanding of nature. With the support of our 343,000 members across the country, the
Wildlife Trusts are helping it to flourish again. London Wildlife Trust is a charity
working throughout the Greater London area. As well as caring for over 60 nature reserves,
the Trust campaigns to save green spaces from harmful development, provides information
about nature to Londoners, and works with local communities and schools to ensure that
London is a better place, not only for wildlife, but for people too. Greenspace
Information for Greater London, GIGL Greenspace Information for Greater London (GIGL) aims to collate and manage all data for London’s green (and brown) space and disseminate it to all of the GIGL partners in London who can then use that data within their work. GIGL is being set up according to the guidelines produced by the
National Biodiversity Network, a partnership of many of the organisations producing or using biodiversity information in the UK. The current members of the GIGL steering group are:
English Nature
Environment Agency
Greater London Authority (Chair)
London Bat Group
London Biodiversity Partnership
London Boroughs
London Natural History Society
London Wildlife Trust
GIGL has a development plan, commissioned by English Nature, which sets out a 2 year development phase starting early in 2004 which builds on the work that London Wildlife Trust’s Biological Recording Project has already undertaken over the last 8 years. The development plan aims to have a fully functioning records centre for London set up by 2006. The development phase will involve identifying new partners, sources of funding and building up the data holdings to ensure comprehensive and accurate coverage for the whole of London. Once established, GIGL will hold comprehensive, up-to-date and accurate information on:
Open Space
Species
Habitats
Land Cover
Land Use
Landscape
Soils
Geomorphology
Local Geological Sites
It will be funded by the partners identified in the development phase, who will have service level agreements with GIGL that cover the cost of data collation, management and dissemination on their behalf and will be tailored to each user’s needs. These will range from informing planning decisions and practical conservation work, through to research and monitoring the outcome of regional and local biodiversity action plans. |