Hedgehog garden challenge
This year (2021) sees the 10th anniversary of Hedgehog Street, a nationwide campaign launched by wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS).
To celebrate its 10th birthday, Hedgehog Street is asking members of the public to do ’10 things to help hedgehogs throughout 2021′. Firstly, it is encouraging people to become ‘Hedgehog Champions’ (volunteers who pledge to make their gardens more hedgehog friendly), in order to stop the ongoing decline of Britain’s favourite mammal.
They have also launched a brand-new garden challenge – a family friendly challenge to find out if the UK’s gardens are hedgehog havens, or if they’re in need of more hedgehog-friendly features to encourage our more prickly night-time visitors.
After completing an online quiz Hedgehog Street will provide tailored advice to those who take part, suggesting simple improvements based on the answers provided. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, and while they sometimes can be seen in daylight on light summer evenings, it can also be a sign they are in need of help. If you are concerned about a hedgehog you can seek advice from the BHPS.
Grace Johnson, Hedgehog Officer for Hedgehog Street says: “We know how much people love hedgehogs, but also how much they’re in trouble. Gardens are a fantastic habitat for hedgehogs if they have the right features and are connected to neighbouring gardens and/or green spaces. Our new garden challenge will provide bespoke advice to everyone who takes part, so helping our native hedgehogs couldn’t be easier. We already have over 90,000 amazing Hedgehog Champions who have made their gardens hedgehog friendly, and hope in our birthday year we can make that 100,000!”
Several factors are contributing to hedgehog decline and include tidy, fenced-in gardens, busy roads in urban areas and habitat fragmentation. However, there is some good news. Grace reports that their State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2018 report, indicated that the rate of decline in our towns and cities appears to be stabilising. So, the ’10 things’ challenge is aimed at building on this positive step to help save these beautiful and iconic species from further decline.
Hedgehog Street also partners with local councils, Wildlife Trusts and academic researchers in order to better understand and solve the challenges hedgehogs face.
To find out more please visit: www.hedgehogstreet.org/happy-birthday-to-us
