High quality habitats provide a wide range of benefits in urban areas. They provide a valuable refuge for wildlife, including species which have become adapted to urban living and have developed cultural significance, such as house sparrow. Urban habitats also provide access to nature for local communities, with associated benefits for health and well-being. In addition, they are vital to help urban areas adapt to climate change by reducing the urban heat island effect and potential for flooding after heavy rainfall.
LUC was commissioned to survey almost 600 sites, covering 246.7 ha (16.6%) of the Borough, using a combination of the Joint Nature Conservancy Council and the Greater London Authority habitat survey methodologies. Open spaces ranged from public parks to railway embankments, from housing estates to nature reserves.
The results assist the Council in meeting a range of legislation and planning obligations, providing a robust baseline and evidence base against which to monitor changes in urban habitats, address the causes of change where required, and to target enhancement opportunities. Our findings also enable the Council to identify changes within Islington’s open space habitats, including identifying threats to open spaces and their wildlife and opportunities to further enhance the sites for wildlife.
LUC outputs included:
• An easy to use database and linked Geographic Information System (GIS) with habitat mapping of all the open spaces
• A review of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) in the Borough including identifying those under threat, and other open spaces which may warrant designation
• A ‘SWOT’ analysis of the findings
• Recommended key actions for the Borough to take to realise positive opportunities for habitat enhancement and to manage the threats
It was exciting to undertake a project which has a real opportunity to benefit Londoners lives in the long term through enhancement of open space habitats. The project also provided an excellent opportunity to use our knowledge of London’s wildlife whilst getting to know open spaces local to where some of the project team live.
