Recording wildlife in Hackney

The Council works closely with GiGL (Greenspace Information for Greater London) to record and monitor biodiversity in our borough.

Why do we record wildlife?

We need to understand what species and habitats we have in order to make informed decisions about how to manage our environment. Knowing what wildlife shares our borough gives us the knowledge to -

manage parks and open spaces for specific habitats and species
consider biodiversity in planning policy and responses
target projects towards the species and habitats that most need our help.

Local wildlife records also contribute to our understanding of how biodiversity is changing over time at both the regional and national scale. Our local records are submitted via GiGL to a the National Biodiversity Network where they could contribute to national monitoring schemes.

Wildlife Recording Workshop

The Council ran a Wildlife Recording Workshop at the Hackney Marshes Centre on 2 June 2011. The workshop covered the principles of recording and presentations from GiGL (Greenspace Information for Greater London) and local recorders. All of the presentations from the evening can be found in the downloads box on the right of this page.

What should be recorded?

We encourage you to submit any records that you collect of habitats or species. This could be a list of birds that you see in your local park, a butterfly that visits your window box, or a thorough site survey. At the moment, we are particularly keen for people to record amphibians and mammals as these groups are currently under-recorded across London.

Help with wildlife identification

If you have spotted something but aren't sure what it is, there are plenty of places to go for help -

put a photo on Sustainable Hackney and see if anyone can tell you what it is
visit iSpot for advice from a national network of wildlife spotters

How can you submit your wildlife records?

Individual wildlife record

Submit an individual record online using the GiGL Submit Wildlife Sighting web page. You will need to register with the website to access this page and there is then a simply form to fill in saying what you have seen and where.

Multiple wildlife records

Download the Standard Data Entry Spreadsheet from the GiGL website. Most of the columns are optional but please make sure you fill out the first four yellow columns. The spreadsheet can then be sent to chloe.smith@gigl.org.uk

Page updated: 20 Mar 2012