Protecting London’s wild spaces

The Environment Committee has published a letter to the Mayor with recommendations on how to help wild spaces flourish in London.

It follows an investigation into wild spaces in London, and how the Mayor can ensure they are protected for future generations.

The investigation explored several important themes, including protecting wild spaces, improving biodiversity, supporting re-wilding, and helping Londoners access and enjoy nature/

On 21 March 2022, the Environment Committee visited Lee Valley Regional Park to explore the importance of ecological corridors to biodiversity. In May 2022, the Committee met to discuss London’s wild spaces, the decline of wildlife, biodiversity, ecological corridors, and green infrastructure.

The letter makes three recommendations to the Mayor, including:

1. The Greater London Authority (GLA) should undertake a review to explore ways to ensure that London boroughs have the skills and ecological experience needed to assess biodiversity in planning decisions to protect wild spaces and enforce the London Plan.
2. The Mayor should accept the recommendations of the Rewilding Taskforce to provide opportunities to engage with rewilding and the capital’s nature. In particular, there should be a focus on engaging and supporting people to discover and support nature where they live and enhance access for marginalised groups.
3. The GLA should use the opportunity of the Local Nature Recovery Strategies to ensure that local baseline data across London is refreshed and that all Boroughs have a strategy for producing accurate assessments of biodiversity. It should also look to strengthen further the Urban Greening Factor and Biodiversity Net Gain frameworks to ensure existing mature trees and ecosystems are appropriately valued and protected.