112 - Inner London : Analysis: Ecosystem Services

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Local food grown in allotments and private gardens

State – Over recent decades there has been a reduction in allotment sites in London, with many being sold for development. However data from London boroughs suggests that this trend has been reversed with numbers of allotment sites increasing more recently.

Local allotments and food production improves the state of the environment by increasing the area of greenspace, creating wildlife havens and reducing urban emissions in relation to transporting food. The Capital Growth scheme was launched in 2008 to turn 2012 land areas into thriving food growing spaces. By May 2012, there were over 1,700 Capital Growth spaces including land in schools, hospitals, housing estates, utility companies and parks.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Food production is limited in the area, with very little land area given to agriculture. There is a high proportion of “other” holding types, which is likely to be indicative of a range of other urban fringe land uses.

Urban farms could be a useful educational resource for people to learn about farming, food and the environment. The urban location enables a large number of people to experience farming. With the high proportion of urban land use and significant pressure on land, the potential for expanding farming and food production is very limited.

Allotments, including community allotments, urban gardens and green roofs provide small-scale opportunities for people to grow food locally.

Work is underway to assess the potential for a Chinese mitten crab fishery.

Opportunities – Work with the local communities to seek opportunities and consider how food production can be managed sustainably in urban fringe and marginal areas.

Seek opportunities to expand the provision of allotments, amenity space and roofs within housing areas and community gardens to enable urban communities to grow food locally.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Food provision
• Regulating soil quality
• Regulating soil erosion
• Timber provision

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Woodland

State – Opportunities for expanding timber provision are limited in Inner London.

Woodland cover is 7 percent of the area of which 2,280 ha is broadleaf woodland, 1,750 ha is mixed, and 4 ha is other woodland.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – The majority of the NCA is urban so there are very limited opportunities for large-scale woodland creation. However, increasing woodland coverage is limited to suitable locations and improving management of existing woodlands could provide opportunities for small scale timber provision for wood products and provide other benefits.

Opportunities – Encourage the appropriate management of existing trees and woodland and explore opportunities for creating new woodland and tree planting where appropriate for multi- purpose use for including small- scale wood product provision and enhancement of landscape, biodiversity and recreation interests.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Timber provision
• Biomass energy
• Climate regulation
• Regulating water quality
• Regulating soil erosion
• Recreation
• Biodiversity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Reservoirs
• River Thames and tributaries
• London chalk aquifer
• Chilterns chalk aquifer
• North Downs chalk aquifer

State – The annual rainfall in the NCA is lower than the national average (690 mm compared to 897 mm) (EA, 2006).

Inner London’s potable water supply comes from a range of sources both surface water, primarily from the Thames and the Lea and also groundwater particularly from the underlying chalk aquifer.

Reservoirs on the edge of the NCA in Hackney and just outside in Waltham Forest and Brent provide winter storage of fresh water.

The chalk aquifer under London in most places is confined by overlying clays which are impermeable and prevent rainwater from replenishing the groundwater levels. It is recharged by water from the Chilterns and the North Downs.

London’s water demand poses considerable constraints and challenges for the ecology, landscape and people of these NCAs.

With high population density and low rainfall, Inner London is under serious water stress. 95 percent of water abstracted is for public supply. 50 percent of this is for household use, 25 percent for commerce /industry, and the remaining 25 percent is lost through leakage from the distribution system. This is a major concern for the region and is most significant in Inner London where the supply network is over 100 years old and vulnerable to vibrations from road traffic and construction.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – The NCA has four main rivers, the Lea, Ravensbourne, Thames and Wandle. The rivers have sources that interact with the Chalk groundwater, and predominantly flow on clay in the NCA area. Rain falling onto areas outside London penetrates the soils recharging the Chalk aquifer. The rising groundwater table forms the headwaters of these watercourses. The groundwater flow within this water body is drawn towards central London and recharges the confined Chalk underneath London, which is designated as a principal aquifer.

The Wandle is heavily restricted for licensing and abstractions will only be allowed at times of higher flow with a flow constraint that will protect the river environment. Similarly, the resource availability of the Ravensbourne is ‘restricted water available for licensing’.

The Lower Lea is heavily controlled and modified. This section of the catchment is underlain by impermeable London Clay that completely confines the chalk below. Abstractions in the Lower Lea catchment will be considered only at times of very high flows.

An availability assessment was not possible for the tidal Thames because the methodology was not designed for tidal systems. As the water in the Thames Estuary is brackish /saline, water may be available without seasonal restrictions, due to tidal movements replenishing abstracted water. Abstractions, and possible restrictions, from the tideway will be determined case by case (Environment Agency, 2013).

Groundwater levels under London are managed carefully to ensure that they are kept low enough to prevent flooding of the underground infrastructure, and high enough to prevent unsustainable abstraction. Natural replenishment is supplemented by artificial recharge where water is pumped into the aquifer at times of high river flow. Levels were at their lowest in the 1960s, but as heavy industry moved out of London they started to recover.

Today levels fluctuate between 35-45 m below sea level. Drawdown for public water supply has increased in certain areas.

Water availability within the Confined Chalk aquifer underneath the London CAMS area is subject to the London Licensing Policy, and is generally either unavailable for abstraction or heavily restricted (Environment Agency, 2013).

The average leakage per property per day in Greater London is 167 litres. This is a 37 percent improvement since 2003, mainly due to large investments from water companies to replace and repair the Victorian distribution system. However, leakage in London is still 32 percent higher than the average for England and Wales. Domestic water use in London is approx. 164 l per household per person per day (l/h/d) which is 20 l/h/d higher than E&W England and Wales average, and 26 percent higher than the aspiration set out in Defra’s Future Water Strategy for 130l/h/d by 2030.

Only 28 percent of homes in London currently have water meters installed compared to England and Wales average of 41 percent.

As an emergency measure, at times of high drought, low river flows and high demand, the Beckton desalination, just outside the NCA can provide additional supply to over 1 million people in London, but this is not a long term solution (The London Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy, Environment Agency, 2006).

Opportunities – Explore the possibilities for the increased use of rising groundwater, canals and water transfers, and water recycling to reduce pressure on river ecosystems.

Prioritise resource efficiency measures and alternative sources for abstraction in the lower and middle reaches of the River Lea.

Encourage the incorporation of measures to improve water efficiency in new buildings such as the use of grey water systems.

Encourage the continued improvement of infrastructure to reduce loss by leakage.

Manage increasing demands to secure a sustainable water supply for Inner London by encouraging water use efficiency in homes, offices and industry.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Water availability
• Regulating water quality
• Biodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Recreation
• Climate regulation

No information available.

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Woodland
• Trees

State – Inner London’s urban forest of pocket woodlands and individual trees offers potential for the provision of biomass energy by improved tree and woodland management.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – Inner London’s woodland resource consists of small stands or linear woodlands along rail sides. These occur mainly in the south on higher ground at the edge of the NCA. Most of these woodlands have never had traditional management. Opportunities for increasing biomass provision lie in the improved appropriate management of existing tree and woodland resource rather than new plantings.

Trees in streets, parks and open spaces are in public ownership and managed under borough policies. Woodland and arboricultural arisings from Inner London’s urban forest offer significant potential for biomass, but this is currently limited by supply chain processes and local demand for woodfuel. The Forestry Commission and partners are working to promote supply chains and develop woodfuel processing hubs, two of which have already been established just outside the NCA in north and south London (Connecting Londoners with Trees and Woodlands – A Tree and Woodland Framework for London, Greater London Authority, 2005 & Forestry Commission. Morris JK Woodland Archaeology in London, 2010).

Opportunities – Promote and distribute the Forestry Commission Woodfuel Supplier Toolkit

Explore the potential for developing local, small scale markets for added value products (such as fencing, charcoal, sustainable /local branded products), with associated infrastructure and skills training.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Biomass energy
• Biodiversity
• Climate regulation
• Recreation
• Sense of place/inspiration

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Urban forest (trees and woodlands)
• Wetlands
• Waterbodies
• Greenspace network including large public parks, heaths and commons
• Green infrastructure

State – Trees in streets and public open spaces throughout the NCA provide shading to buildings and people. Trees, woodlands, and some vegetated green spaces regulate air temperature through evapotranspiration. This can impact on public health, particularly in periods of high temperature. Waterbodies, including reservoirs, canals, rivers and ponds perform a similar function through direct evaporation. Together these help to mitigate the urban heat island effect, as do the wetlands, woodlands and parklands in surrounding NCAs which supply cool air to Inner London. Trees also remove pollutants from the air, improving air quality and capture carbon.

High temperatures increase some pollutants such as ground-level ozone, and so the urban forest performs cumulative functions. The wetlands in the east, and the urban forest throughout the NCA, also sequester carbon.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – A 10 percent increase in green infrastructure (particularly tree canopy cover) in urban areas can reduce ambient temperatures by up to 4oC which is the predicted increase for London under medium to high emission scenarios (UK Climate Projections (UKCP09), 2013).

Temperature regulation is a particular challenge for Inner London which suffers the urban heat island effect, where the urban fabric absorbs and retains heat during the day and releases it at night, preventing the city and its inhabitants from cooling down. This can result in Inner London being considerably hotter than surrounding areas, exacerbated in areas significantly lacking in trees and green spaces. Trees only perform this function when they have established large mature canopies, which are much more effective than large groups of smaller canopied trees.

There may be a deficiency in ecosystem service delivery in future years due to smaller species being planted, and a delay in succession due to trees being either old or young, with fewer planted in intervening years. Grant schemes such as the London Tree and Woodland Grant Scheme, Mayors Street Trees Fund, The Big Tree Plant and NGO programmes have funded much of the recent plantings, some of which have been targeted in areas of poor air quality.

Challenges and costs of retrofitting trees into the built environment can prevent trees being planted where climate regulatory services are needed most. Woodlands and trees in public realm deliver multiple services, but are usually managed for amenity, rather than climate regulation, under borough open space strategies (although some local authorities are now producing separate tree strategies). The recent London Plan Supplementary Planning Guidance for development of borough tree strategies guides Local Authorities on the audit, protection, planting and management of trees and woodlands.

The health of trees is important to their functioning in terms of climate regulation. In some places communities are actively engaged in local tree planting and maintenance.

Deculverting and naturalisation of concrete river channels can also assist in locally reducing temperatures (Adapting to Climate Change: Creating natural resilience, London Climate Change Partnership, 2009., Managing Risks and Increasing Resilience – The Mayor’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, Mayor of London, 2011., & RE:LEAF Prospectus: More trees for a greener London, Greater London Authority)

Opportunities – Promote the use of the ‘right tree, right place principle’ for tree planting to take account of future climate change.

Promote and update The ‘right trees for a changing climate’ tool should be used, promoted, and updated as new research and evidence becomes available, and local airflows and pollutant concentrations should also be taken into account.

Develop and support local volunteering through new and existing schemes such as the Tree Council’s volunteer tree wardens.

Identify areas within the urban realm that can help offset the urban heat island effect.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Climate regulation
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Regulating water flow
• Regulating water quality
• Recreation Biodiversity

No information available.

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Wetlands
• Rivers and streams
• Green spaces
• Urban greening

State – For information regarding the current state of water quality within this NCA, refer to the Environment Agency (Draft river basin management plan maps).

Analysis – The rivers within the Inner London NCA flow over clay which prevents interaction of surface waters with the chalk groundwater. Rainfall cannot penetrate due to dense urban fabric and underlying clay soils, so runs quickly into rivers. Low flows and volumes concentrate pollutants from run-off, which is likely to increase with predicted increases in droughts and storms.

Water quality in the Thames is influenced by discharges from sewage works, upstream diffuse agricultural run-off, urban runoff and incidents of pollution. Great efforts have been made in recent years to improve the water quality of the Thames itself, largely through improvements in the quality of effluent from sewage treatment works.

However, under the conditions of the Water Framework Directive the Thames is judged to be failing because of the presence of some hazardous compounds derived from road runoff, pesticides), herbicide from agriculture, and biocides.

The water quality of the Lea and Ravensbourne suffers from phosphate and dissolved oxygen issues, the Ravensbourne also having high Ammonia. The Wandle suffers from high phosphate content (Environment Agency, 2013).

London’s combined sewer overflows (CSOs) were built in the 1800s to improve river quality by preventing disposal of sewage directly into the river. Surface water drainage and sewage is dealt with in a combined system, overflowing into the Thames when sewers reach capacity. Increasing population and development puts system under pressure, and it is now overwhelmed by as little as 2 mm of rainfall. The Thames Tideway Tunnel, due for completion in 2020, will intercept flows from 34 unsatisfactory CSOs via a 32 km tunnel under the Thames. The Lea Tunnel, due to be completed in 2014, will prevent storm sewage overflow into the River Lea.

Misconnections and containment failures also contribute to pollution problems. However, serious incidents (category 1 and 2) are low in London. The NCA has little semi-natural habitat. Natural wetland habitats now exist only at the eastern boundary of the NCA in the Lea and Ingrebourne valleys.

Manmade reedbeds have been created in gravel workings and reservoirs. Small reedbeds (often under 0.5 ha) have been created as part of river restoration or habitat creation projects on the margins of lakes or rivers usually within parks. Small stands of semi-natural habitat within the urban fabric, represents an important resource in filtering pollutants from urban run-off, and in addition provide stepping stones for associated wildlife.

Opportunities – Promote urban greening measures in new and existing development designed to slow and filter run-off, for example, rain gardens, green roofs.

Identify opportunities through the All London Green Grid, the London Rivers Action Plan and other projects and programmes, to target and design green infrastructure and river restoration for water quality functions.

Explore and support water quality objectives in Catchment Plans for the Tidal Thames, and rivers Lea, Wandle and Ravensbourne.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating water quality
• Regulating water flow
• Biodiversity
• Recreation

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Greenspaces
• Urban greening
• Rivers and streams
• Reservoirs and waterbodies
• Wetlands

State – London is vulnerable to tidal, fluvial and surface water flooding. Wetlands and woodland at the edge of the NCA, and in neighbouring NCAs help to regulate flood risk. Inner London’s network of green spaces, rivers and streams also helps to alleviate flooding.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – A large proportion of Inner London lies on the Thames floodplain. Flood risk is principally managed by a complex system of flood defences (walls, gates, and the Thames Barrier) and drainage networks. Tidal flood defences provide a sufficiently high standard of protection for predicted increases in tidal surges in the medium term, up to 2070 (Thames Estuary 2100). Fluvial food risk will increase with a projected increase of 20 percent in peak river flows (Thames CFMP 36). Rivers in Inner London are culverted or canalised for much of their length increasing the risk of flooding at high flows.

Greatest risks are from surface water flooding which is managed to some extent by a network of drains, rivers and green spaces. The dense urban fabric throughout the whole of the NCA and surrounding areas, coupled with underlying clay soils, prevents infiltration of rainfall. Water collects causing surface floods, or runs off into rivers carrying pollutants from the urban environment. Some elements of green infrastructure can help slow flows and reduce the amount of rainwater entering the drainage system. The use of sustainable drainage systems such as ponds and reed beds can also help slow flow.

However, most green spaces are managed for amenity and soils are compacted compromising their potential to regulate surface water flows.

The probability of all forms of flooding is projected to increase as sea levels rise and heavy rainfall events become more frequent and intense; and the consequences will also increase as London’s population grows, more infrastructure is located in areas of flood risk and more gardens are converted into impermeable surfaces. 3,000 ha of vegetated garden land have been lost to hard paving since 1998, an area equivalent to 21 times the size of Hyde Park (London: Garden City). The Mayor’s Drain London Forum provides a mechanism for collaboration between boroughs on strategic flood risk management (The London Rivers Action Plan, The River Restoration Centre, 2009).

Opportunities – Where possible restore or enhance rivers to slow fluvial flows and create flood storage and encourage the use of sports pitches as temporary flood storage areas.

Promote urban greening measures such as rain gardens and green roofs for all new developments and encourage retrofitting to existing development where surface water flooding is identified as a significant risk.

Promote the better management of existing greenspaces to improve rates of absorbance of surface waters.

Encourage the design of green infrastructure for regulating water flow can that will also support the delivery of multiple services including biodiversity, recreation, climate regulation, and sense of place.

Encourage the installation of sustainable urban drainage systems where appropriate.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating water flow
• Regulating water quality
• Biodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration
• Climate regulation

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Soils particularly on London Clay

State – This NCA consists of several soil types including slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soils, freely draining slightly acid loamy soils, loamy soils with naturally high groundwater and loamy and clayey soils of coastal flats with naturally high groundwater.

Much of the soilscape within the NCA has been heavily disturbed but small pockets of the “natural” soilscape survive in the area’s parks and commons such as Greenwich Park and Wimbledon Common.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Although little of the NCA is now farmed, soil quality is still important for gardeners, allotment holders and greenspace managers. Both public and private gardens within London can have a negative impact on other NCAs in particular through their demand for peat.

Soil compaction as a result of high visitor numbers is a problem for some popular sites such as Hampstead Heath.

Some areas of London suffer soil contamination, ranging from physical contamination with rubble and glass to chemical contamination from industrial processes or road run-off. In the worst cases, soil may have to be washed mechanically to remove the pollutant or removed altogether from site.

Opportunities – Promote awareness amongst the public and those managing parks and gardens of the need to use sustainable sources of soil improvement.

Encourage home composting where possible.

Where possible and appropriate, manage visitor access to open spaces with soil compaction problems.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating soil quality
• Regulating soil erosion
• Regulating water quality

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Soils
• London Clay

State – The majority of the soils in this NCA have a low risk of soil erosion. However, freely draining slightly acid loamy soils have an enhanced risk of soil erosion.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Soil erosion is not a major problem in this NCA because of its urban nature. Inner London has many green spaces but these are often grassed reducing the risk of soil movement. Building sites possibly present the greatest potential for soil erosion.

Opportunities – Promote awareness amongst developers of the Defra code of best practice set out in the “Construction Code of Practice for the Sustainable Use of Soils on Construction Sites”.

Where erosion is a problem in larger open spaces, such as parks, encourage the planting of hedging to prevent overland flows.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Regulating soil erosion
• Climate regulation
• Regulating water quality

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Gardens
• Urban greenspace
• Green Infrastructure

State – Private gardens, allotments and more natural areas within greenspace supporting pollinating insects and contributing to local food production.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – Road verges, the sides of railway and overground tube tracks, river and canal corridors, brownfield sites and other suitable locations could all be managed to provide improved nectar sources.

The sheltered, milder climates of urban habitats can provide havens for pollinators.

However habitat fragmentation can restrict dispersal of some species and makes pollinators more vulnerable to climate change (Making B Lines. A report on the practicalities of making a B Lines network, P Evans, 2012).

Open mosaic habitat brownfield sites, and to a lesser extent biodiverse green roofs, can support notable invertebrate communities including rare and scarce pollinating insects.

Opportunities – Seek opportunities to introduce species-rich grassland, pollen and nectar strips, margins along motorway and road verges, railways, on brownfield sites and alongside watercourses such as the river valleys and canals, to encourage and support pollinating insects.

Promote the management of small greens and parks for the benefit of pollinators; in particular encourage the planting of wildflowers following the example of the Olympic Park.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Pollination
• Biodiversity
• Food provision

No information available.

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Remnant natural landscape features
• Historic buildings
• The River Thames, its tributaries and associated industrial heritage
• Large parklands with designed landscapes, and regional parks
• World Heritage Sites
• Woodlands and associated archaeology
• Famous writers and artists
• River terraces and associated geodiversity and Palaeolithic archaeology

State – Sense of place is very strong throughout the NCA particularly along the River Thames. Local identity is reinforced by parks and gardens, green spaces, trees and woodlands, rivers, and remnant sites of former industry such as canals and the docks, wharfs and creeks in east London.

Inner London is constructed from a wide variety of building materials ranging from locally made bricks to stone imported from elsewhere within the UK or from abroad.

The low wooded ridges to the north and south form a low key backdrop to the internationally significant buildings and cityscape in the wide valley bottom. The views from Greenwich Park and Hampstead Heath down over the city have been important for many centuries.

Main beneficiary – International

Analysis – Sense of place is very strong across Inner London particularly along the River Thames, in the designed landscapes of the Royal Parks, and in the streets and garden squares in the west. Some of the large central parks were previously royal hunting grounds and have inspired many paintings and works of art. Other parts of London’s natural landscape have literary connotations such as the River Thames which is vividly portrayed in the novels of Charles Dickens.

Parks, green spaces and trees within and around the built environment also inform the sense of a place and visual identity.

Opportunities – Reinforce the sense of place evoked by natural landscape features in new public realm developments, restoration projects and by the appropriate management of existing areas.

Encourage the conservation and promotion of industrial heritage associated with the Thames and its tributaries within landscape-scale projects and strategies which integrate multiple landscape objectives.

Ensure the conservation and management of the highly valued parks and open spaces particularly those with heritage value and World Heritage Site status, such as Greenwich Park.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Sense of place/inspiration

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Historic buildings
• The River Thames, its tributaries and associated Industrial heritage
• Large parklands with designed landscapes, and regional parks
• World Heritage Sites
• Registered parks and gardens
• Woodlands and associated archaeology

State – The NCA supports a high density of heritage designations with 3 world heritage sites, 94 registered parks and gardens, 79 Scheduled Monuments and 13,242 listed buildings attracting visitors from around the world. Sense of history is strong throughout the NCA evidenced by these designated assets, settlement patterns, remnant industrial features, and in place and street names that echo past landscapes and land uses. Public access to heritage assets is widespread.

Main beneficiary – International

Analysis – The London Landscape Framework identifies the “Natural Signatures” – the unique natural identity – of landscape areas, derived from an analysis of remnant natural landscape features and underlying geology.

London’s deep and vibrant history is integral to its importance as an international visitor destination. Whilst heritage assets are many, widespread and accessible; focus for conservation is on those assets that have amenity value. This has led to a gradual erosion of historic natural character where features are perceived to have no amenity value, for example by the culverting and canalising of rivers, felling of native woodlands at the edge of the NCA and neglect of some remnant natural features such as that appear to have no amenity value.

This is despite the role of the natural landscape in defining the development of London.

Nonetheless London does offer considerable opportunities for recreation and possibilities to get away from the hubbub of the busy city.

Visitor pressures need to be managed to avoid negative impacts on historic features.

Opportunities – Promote ‘Natural Signatures’ as described in the London Landscape Framework (London’s Natural Signatures: The London Landscape Framework, Natural England, 2011) in new public realm developments, restoration projects and appropriate management of existing areas, using the analysis and design clues in the London Landscape Framework.

Explore opportunities to conserve and promote the industrial heritage of the rivers in the Lea Valley and Wandle Valley through landscape-scale projects which integrate multiple landscape objectives.

Raise awareness of woodland archaeology, and ensure appropriate woodland management to protect heritage features. Appropriate woodland management draws on traditional techniques and delivers additional benefits biodiversity, biomass production and carbon storage.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Sense of history
• Recreation
• Biodiversity
• Sense of place/inspiration

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Woodlands
• Parks
• Rivers
• Wetlands
• Green infrastructure/urban greening – pocket parks
• Local Nature Reserves

State – The whole NCA has low (negative) tranquillity scores. However, parks and green spaces scattered amongst the built environment provide highly valued pockets of perceived tranquillity.

Main beneficiary – Regional

Analysis – No part of the NCA is considered to be undisturbed or tranquil because of its predominant urban nature. However, landscape features such as parks and woodlands, commons, riverside walks, local nature reserves and churchyards provide important pockets of locally valued tranquillity.

Wetlands and reservoirs in the Lea Valley provide access to wide open skies and refuge from road and street traffic.

A predicted increase in warmer drier summers may increase visitor pressure and compromise tranquillity.

Opportunities – Improve perceptions of tranquillity, and create more tranquil spaces, within existing and new development through planning and urban design, and through management of parks and green spaces.

Encourage measures to reduce light pollution such as through providing passive lighting and low lux lighting.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Tranquillity
• Recreation

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Parks and greenspaces
• Rivers and waterbodies
• Thames Path National Trail

State – There are 9 km of public rights of way, which includes the Thames Path National Trail and six other regionally strategic walking routes cross the NCA including the Capital Ring, the Green Chain, the Jubilee Greenway, the Jubilee Walkway, the Lea Valley Walk and the London Loop.

Part of Richmond Park National Nature Reserve falls within the NCA. Parks, green spaces, woodlands, rivers, and waterbodies provide recreational services to residents and visitors throughout the NCA.

Accessible green space, close to residential areas, is particularly valued for recreation and for physical and mental wellbeing.

Main beneficiary – National

Analysis – The extensive network of parks and green spaces, throughout the NCA allow for active and passive outdoor recreation close to people homes and places of work. The UK National Ecosystem Assessment highlighted the importance of local green spaces to human wellbeing for physical and psychological health reducing the heart rate and stress as well as providing an encouragement to leading a healthy lifestyle (The UK National Ecosystem Assessment Technical Report, UK National Ecosystem Assessment, 2011).

The All London Green Grid provides a framework for strengthening the green space network and the services it delivers; priority for enhancements should be aimed at areas of deficiency.

Reservoirs and wetlands in the east provide opportunities for birding and fishing, as well as walking, cycling and boating. Water-based activities are provided along the Thames and tributary rivers, Grand Union Canal and Docklands. Parts of the Lea Valley Regional Park and the proposed Wandle Valley Regional Park both fall within the NCA and provide recreational opportunities across large areas and out into the countryside.

Levels of access to nature and greenspace vary across London with significant areas of deficiency existing within parts of Inner London. In some areas social housing greenspace is thought to be greater than the amount owned and managed by the local authority.

Greenspace quality is similarly variable across the NCA, and equally important in terms of access to recreation and health benefits. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a new high quality recreational resource in an area of deficiency. Pressure on the network is likely to increase with London’s increasing and aging population, and with the predicted increase in warmer drier summers. (Green Infrastructure and Open Environments: The All London Green Grid, Mayor of London, 2012), (London Plan Chapter 7: London’s Living Place and Spaces, Mayor of London, 2012), & (London’s Environment Revealed: State of the Environment Report for London, Greater London Authority/ Environment Agency/ Natural England/ Forestry Commission, 2011).

Opportunities – Develop opportunities for volunteers and local communities to contribute to the management and maintenance of recreational assets.

Seek opportunities to deliver local green space strategies and site-specific management plans to raise the quality and accessibility of public green spaces across the NCA.

Raise awareness of the value of social housing greenspace for health, biodiversity and social cohesion amongst the public and social housing providers. Encourage improvements to existing social housing green space where appropriate so that it provides a good quality experience and a wide range of benefits including biodiversity and for health and well being.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Recreation
• Sense of place/inspiration

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Woodlands
• Parks and green spaces
• Rivers and streams
• Urban Greening
• Local wildlife sites
• Geomorphology
• Gardens

State – Overall the biodiversity resource is fragmented. Large parts of the NCA are deficient in access to nature. Part of the Lea Valley wetlands SPA and part of the Wimbledon Common/Richmond Park Special Area of Conservation falls into Inner London, but cover less than 1 percent of the area. 241 ha of land is designated SSSI, dominated by broadleaved woodland. 1 percent of overall woodland cover is ancient. Heaths and commons are primarily managed for amenity value.

The River Thames is confined along its entire length through the NCA, but may provide biodiversity interest on its foreshores and walls and provides an important corridor for migrating birds and fish. Tributary rivers support associated habitats and riverside walks. Local sites of importance for nature conservation cover 5,219 ha, 16 percent of the NCA.

The city’s gardens also provide an increasingly important resource for wildlife.

Main beneficiary – Local

Analysis – High quality priority habitat is limited to wetlands and woodlands at the edge of the NCA. However, locally designated sites represent an important resource for communities, providing access to nature within the heart of the city close to where people live and work. They include some public parks, cemeteries and remnant sites of former industry. The sites are generally small in size, of variable quality, and are usually managed by local authorities, London Wildlife Trust, community groups, or other voluntary organisations.

Banks of rivers and streams are being naturalised in places, and associated riparian habitats created or restored. With only a small percentage of land considered being of biodiversity value (local, national or international designation), the resource is under considerable pressure from an increasing population, and large areas are still deficient in access to nature. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the east will provide 45 ha of priority habitat, primarily species-rich grassland and reedbed, representing an important new resource both in terms of biodiversity and access to nature.

The Lea Catchment Nature Improvement Area aims to restore ecological functioning across the Lea Valley, linking the new resource at the Olympic Park with the River Thames, the SPA wetlands and wildlife sites associated with the chalk streams and headwaters in the Thames Basin Lowlands. Elsewhere, opportunities to restore ecological networks may be developed through landscape scale frameworks such as the All London Green Grid ALGG, London Rivers Action Plan, and Environment Agency Catchment Plans.

Opportunities – Support the restoration of ecological networks across landscapes that span Inner London and adjoining NCAs.

Encourage better and more appropriate management of SINCs to help create core sites from which ecological networks can develop.

Encourage the appropriate management of non-designated greenspace among local authorities to increase the habitat resource and increase resilience.

Raise awareness of the contribution of private gardens through promoting wildlife gardening.

Encourage urban greening in business districts, housing estates and streets to soften the matrix of the built environment and provide stepping stones for wildlife.

Promote engagement with nature sites for education, health and business value.

Develop opportunities to engage people in nature through encouraging involvement in the management of local sites.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Biodiversity
• Recreation
• Tranquillity

Assets/attributes: main contributors to service –

• Geological SSSI
• Museum collections
• Building stone
• Sand and gravels dredged from the Thames – see geodiversity comments in sections above.
• Geomorphology
• Evidence of past environments: climates and landscapes
• Palaeolithic archaeology

State – Inner London supports 1 geological SSSI, museum collections, geo-conservation and public engagement activities such as walks and talks, which promote the value of geology and landform to the development of London. In addition, 11 sites comprising 221 ha have been proposed for designation as regional and local geological sites (Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL), 2013).

London provides examples of a wide variety of building stone from across the UK and across the world.

Geodiversity is still exploited and utilised within this NCA

The river terraces that underpin much of this NCA preserve fossils and sedimentary evidence of past environments and climates. These range from times (Last interglacial, 125,000 years ago) when temperatures were warmer than today and a fauna that included lions, hippos and extinct species of elephant to glacial episodes when much of the NCA was a tundra landscape, and during one of these episodes (the Anglian glaciations 450,000 years ago), a large ice sheet sat on the outskirts of London. This palaeo-environmental evidence may also potentially provide insights into the impacts of future climate change (London Geodiversity Action Partnership: London Geodiversity Action Plan 2009-2013, February 2010), and (Greater London Authority Green Infrastructures and open environments: London’s Foundation: Protecting the geodiversity of the Capital, Supplementary Planning Guidance, London Plan 2011 Implementation Framework. March, 2012).

The earliest evidence we have for a human presence in the NCA is in the form of stone tools dating from around 400,000 years ago

Main beneficiary – National

Analysis – There is one geological SSSI at Gilbert’s Pit in Greenwich and 221 ha that are proposed for designation for their regional and local geological importance. Sites mainly within or alongside public parks are fully accessible.

The NCA is home to the nationally and internationally important collections at the Geological Society and the Natural History Museum. Local museums, such as Museum of London and The Horniman, celebrate the importance of the Thames and associated geology to the development of London. Landforms shaped by geology and geomorphologic processes provide views across London, for example from the river terraces in the north.

London’s deposits provide a valuable geological resource for education.

Building stone resources from London, and stone imported from all around the globe, are evident in buildings throughout the NCA and building stone trails and geo- walks provide public engagement opportunities.

Opportunities – Continual development provides ongoing opportunities to view and understand the geology under London and identify the influence of natural processes.

Permanent and temporary exposures could be created with interpretation for public access, and/or for sampling and collecting to further research and understanding.

Support the designation of regionally and locally important sites (RIGS and LIGS) as recommended in the London Geodiversity Action Plan, to afford these sites protection (RIGS) and consideration (LIGS) in borough development strategies.

Seek opportunities to provide educational access and interpretation of the NCAs geodiversity assets.

Principal services offered by opportunities –

• Geodiversity
• Recreation
• Sense of place/inspiration