Hedgehogs are struggling says report

In a report issued on Tuesday the Ludlow-based British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species the charities say that urban hedgehog populations appear to have stablised and might even be starting to recover, after previously falling.

Data collected for this report between 1981 and 2020 from five ongoing surveys showed that hedgehogs have undergone a long historic decline, but now the vast differences between urban and rural populations are becoming increasingly apparent.

Fay Vass, chief executive of the BHPS said: “Hedgehogs as we know them today have lived here for at least half a million years, but they’re now facing myriad pressures which are causing populations to plummet, particularly in the rural landscape. The reasons for their decline are complex and aren’t yet fully understood, but two of the main pressures hedgehogs face in both rural and urban areas is lack of suitable habitat and habitat fragmentation.”

“Greater awareness, and individual and community actions, such as making gardens more hedgehog friendly, may be starting to help urban hedgehogs. However, urgent action is needed to understand why rural areas are no longer suitable for hedgehogs, and how conservationists, farmers and land managers can work together to prevent hedgehogs from becoming extinct in the countryside.”

David Wembridge, mammal surveys coordinator at PTES, says: “Loss of landscape features such as hedgerows is partly responsible for the decline, but not fully, as recent efforts have been made to restore and improve them. We know from research, funded by PTES, BHPS and others over the last decade, that hedgehogs prefer villages to open farmland, and follow field margins and hedgerows. Understanding how hedgehogs use and move through the landscape is a big step forward, but more work is needed.”

“We now need to look at the wider management of farmland and field margins, how the invertebrate species that hedgehogs eat are faring, the impact of climate change, and how connected the wider landscape is. Once we know the full facts, we can start to help rural hedgehogs to recover.”

Farmers and land managers are best placed to help, and many have already made positive changes to benefit hedgehogs and other wildlife. But, to stem the rural decline more change is still needed, which is why PTES and BHPS plan to help farmers with new Environmental Land Management (ELM) government schemes to benefit hedgehogs, promote the importance of healthy hedgerows through PTES’ Great British Hedgerow Survey, engage with government consultations about sustainable farming and landscape recovery, and plan to set up a national monitoring programme. The charities’ Farmers Advice booklet is also available for free: www.hedgehogstreet.org/farmersadvice

To help hedgehogs where you live, become a Hedgehog Champion, make a Hedgehog Highway in your garden fence or wall, make your garden as hedgehog friendly as possible and record sightings via Hedgehog Street’s BIG Hedgehog Map. For more top tips, visit: www.hedgehogstreet.org