The Nottinghamshire Dormouse Group are a crowd of dedicated volunteers working to conserve hazel dormice in Nottinghamshire. In 2013, 2014 & 2015, dormice were reintroduced to three woodlands in the north of the county. Subsequently, members of the Nottinghamshire Dormouse Group undertake monthly nest-box checks to monitor the dormouse populations during the active season. Over the winter months when the dormice are hibernating the volunteers undertake woodland management tasks to enhance the woodland habitat, and essential maintenance works such as repairing and replacing broken nest-boxes to provide continual nesting and breeding sites for the dormice.

Since 2000, dormouse populations in the UK have declined by 51%, mainly as a result of habitat fragmentation and woodland degradation The State of Britain’s Dormice 2019. The work undertaken by the Nottinghamshire Dormouse Group and other similar groups across the country is helping to reverse this decline.

The group currently have very few tools to undertake the woodland work, and therefore are hoping to raise funds to purchase some extra bowsaws and loppers, as well as an all-terrain cart to help transport nest-boxes around the woodlands.