{"id":30107,"title":"The Importance of Hedgehog Highways","description":"Hedgehog populations are struggling, and there is an urgent need to help our hedgehogs by making sure they can access all the green space they need, via Hedgehog Highways.","content":"

Britain\u2019s urban hedgehog populations are thankfully stabilising after decades of worrying decline, although a recent report has found that numbers in the countryside are in fact still falling.<\/span><\/p>

Listed as vulnerable to extinction in Britain\u2019s red list for mammals, hedgehogs have been subject to significant conservation efforts. Key players in the fight for hedgehog survival \u2013 People\u2019s Trust for Endangered Species and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society \u2013 published a report on the state of Britain\u2019s hedgehogs this year. They also run a campaign called Hedgehog Street focusing on local action and encouraging people to create hedgehog highways in their gardens.<\/span><\/p>

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Gaps under boundary fences, known as \u201chedgehog highways\u201d, are being heralded as a key driver in this improvement for hedgehogs in cities and towns and connect green spaces in which hedgehogs can roam and find food.<\/span><\/p>

Hedgehog numbers have shown a 30%-75% decline across different areas of the countryside since 2000. Agricultural intensification in Great Britain has resulted in the loss of 50% of hedgerows since World War II. And the pesticides and slug pellets used within agriculture inadvertently harm hedgehog habitats by killing vital invertebrates that they rely on.<\/span><\/p>

In addition, new housing estates and road networks are also being built with impenetrable fences that can fragment populations of ground-dwelling animals such as hedgehogs.<\/span><\/p>

Despite being relatively small animals, hedgehogs can travel up to 2km and visit up to 13 gardens per night through well-connected habitats, so the Hedgehog Street organisation is pushing for whole neighbourhoods to allow hedgehogs to access the varied resources they need to survive by putting in Hedgehop Highways.<\/span><\/p>

They have found that Hedgehog highways can generate a real community spirit. For example, the village of Kirtlington, Oxfordshire, is proud of its hedgehog highway where there are 60 connected houses, with gaps, holes and even ramps in all shapes and sizes for hedgehogs to use. Other villages have announced plans to create similar networks in their bid to create the country\u2019s longest hedgehog highway.<\/span><\/p>

It is estimated that more than 120,000 highways connecting around 240,000 gardens have already been created in the UK. This is equivalent to approximately 1.1% of UK households with access to a garden. Although incredibly valuable, there is still a long way to go to protect these prickly creatures.<\/span><\/p>

So what can you do to create a Highway? Removing barriers to a hedgehog\u2019s nightly wandering is the most important action we can take for the species. A 13cm x 13cm hole is sufficient to create a corridor from one garden to the next. This can be drilled through wooden fence panels or be a gap cut in a wire fence. A channel can be dug underneath a fence or gate, or a brick can be removed from a wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Encouragingly, many of the big developers acknowledge that they have a key role to play in preventing the creation of hostile landscapes for nature and Bovis Homes, Barratt Homes, Taylor Wimpey and several other developers have pledged to include gaps in garden boundaries throughout their housing projects. What\u2019s more, guidance on building hedgehog highways has been added to the National Planning Policy framework.<\/span><\/p>

Hedgehogs have had a bumpy ride, and have been party to huge declines over recent decades. Against all odds, however, hedgehog highways are providing a glimmer of hope to help this species start to recover.<\/span><\/p>

Find out more here:<\/span><\/p>

https:\/\/www.hedgehogstreet.org\/help-hedgehogs\/link-your-garden\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>

\"dx5qjlg02oezsyzspkyxmzlkngpwqj4iyaxm29itxnxmi6wx.jpeg.jpeg?w=1140&v=2\"Hedgehog Tee by Flo Wight<\/u><\/a><\/p>

(also available in the Kids collection)<\/u><\/p>

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