Story
The UK has lost half of it's hedgehog population since the year 2000
When you hear a statistic that shocking, action is required.
Hedgehogs are already one of the priority conservation species with our Partners In Action via our Target 10 project. In response to these figures we have funded Project Hedgehog - a fantastic new initiative at our Partner In Action, Lea Brook Valley Project. Hedgehog populations in the area surrounding the Lea Book Valley Project are in sharp decline. Situated in a densely populated and rapidly expanding residential area, intensive building has left little room for wildlife. Hedgehogs are nomadic and can travel several miles a night hunting for food. New housing developments with continuous fencing mean that they can't travel between gardens and are forced into smaller areas, leaving them with insufficient habitat and nowhere to hibernate.
Project Hedgehog is reconnecting gardens and other green spaces, giving hedgehogs the space they need. They provide purpose built, cat-proof hedgehog boxes for private gardens, ensuring that breeding females and their hoglets have somewhere safe to rest. The boxes also offer safe hibernation spaces helping hedgehogs to survive the winter months. The local community are being encouraged to make gardens hedgehog-friendly and create small holes in their fences so that hedgehogs can travel between gardens and beyond into the wooded valley. Excitingly, early survey results show that the boxes are being used, and hedgehogs are beginning to expand their territory!
We are delighted to have helped the hedgehogs at Lea Brook Valley, but there is so much more work for us to do. Nature in the UK is in serious trouble the threat of extinction to many species and the decline of even more is already a reality. Please donate today so that we can continue to reverse the decline of hedgehogs and other Target Ten species.