Annunciata Elwes reports on the new National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy that's been created by two key conservation organisations.
The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) have launched the UK’s first ever National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy, intended to help our prickly little friends for the next decade.
The strategy was created in response to the alarming findings of the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, which found that our native porcine has declined by 30%–75% in rural areas since 2000. To try and put that right, the charities have collaborated with 30 conservation NGOs, academics, educational institutions, rehabilitators and organisations within the transport and farming sectors — it’d ‘a real moment for hedgehog conservation,’ says BHPS CEO Fay Vass.
Although the guidelines in the strategy are aimed at conservation NGOs, councils, farmers, land managers and the Government, there are useful tips for the public, such as creating 5in by 5in square holes in or under fences to connect gardens and form ‘highways’ via which the spiky little creatures can travel. Taking part in the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme launched earlier this year helps, too.
Hedgehog gate at a local nature reserve in West Yorkshire.
‘Although rural populations are still in decline, hedgehogs in urban areas may be starting to recover, likely thanks to our amazing Hedgehog Champions and the wider public,’ says Grace Johnson, co-author of the strategy and Hedgehog Street (a PTES and BHPS campaign) hedgehog officer.
‘We need this urban recovery to continue, but we also need to see this positive trajectory take place in the countryside, too.’
Visit www.hedgehogstreet.org/conservation-strategy for more details and tips on how you can get involved.
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