The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management’s (CIEEM) have best practice guidelines advocating for a robust and up to date environmental evidence base at key stages of the planning application process. Environmental considerations must be made for priority habitat and Sites of Importance to Nature Conservation (SINCs).

In Greater London, planning authorities and environmental consultants achieve this via accessing GiGL services. GiGL is the most comprehensive source of high quality environmental data in Greater London. It is vital this is used by planning authorities and developers to make informed decisions.

The below visualisations present summary statistics on environmental data for each London borough, relating to data contributors, species, SINCs (Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation), habitats, and open spaces, that are of material consideration in planning . These are based on data held at GiGL as of April 2024.

For more information on the data, visit the links at the bottom of the factsheets, and to find out how these factsheets were produced please download the description here.