Hedgehog Friendly Villages
Do you want to help hedgehogs like Grace? We’re looking for ‘Hogleteers’ to help make villages ‘Hedgehog Friendly’. Could you be the next one to join us? Help us halt the decline, one garden and one village at a time.
OK , The Bad News First…
The UK’s hedgehogs are in trouble. Since the 1950s, the numbers have declined from over 30 million to fewer than 1 million today. And the numbers keep dropping. Since 2000, populations have fallen by at least half in the British countryside, and by nearly a third in urban areas.
The Reasons
Why are hedgehogs declining so dramatically?
Simplified to a single word, the main driver of the decline is humans. Our species is destroying, degrading, and fragmenting their habitats as well as poisoning their food supply with extensive pesticide usage. At least 100,000 hedgehogs are killed on roads each year, accounting for 16% of all road casualties.
In rural areas, loss of hedgerows to accommodate intensive agriculture leads to diminished prey availability, inadequate protection from predators, and insufficient nesting sites for rearing young.
In urban areas, fences between properties serve as impermeable barriers between gardens which may otherwise provide suitable habitat havens. Additionally, swimming pools and steep-sided ponds can turn into the watery graves of any hedgehogs that accidentally fall in if there is no means for them to escape. Lawnmowers, strimmers, and bonfires can also fatally wound unsuspecting hedgehogs if people are not cautious.
Now The Very Good News
It is not yet too late! Whilst populations continue to decline at around 5% per year nationally, trends seem to show a slight decrease in the rate of decline in urban areas in recent years. As people make their gardens and communities hedgehog-friendly, populations are slowly starting to recover in certain areas.
Join the movement and help us fight the decline and save Britains hedgehog one community and one village at a time. Project Amazing Grace can help you make your community hedgehog-friendly!
Help save Grace.
Start with modifying your own garden and behaviour first. We can help you through this process and help you make your village hedgehog friendly.
1. YOU
Make your own garden hedgehog-friendly by following ‘Graces Five Point Charter’. Send us photos and the changes that you have implemented.
2. YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Join Grace’s Army and become a Hogleteer and encourage the next stage of a ‘Grace Hedgehog Friendly Village’.
Invite your neighbours and friends to become hedgehog-friendly by sending them Grace’s Five Point Charter by email, or download it and print off a few copies and deliver it by hand.
3. YOUR VILLAGE
Organise a ‘Grace Day’ and spread the word to local schools, groups and organisations in your community.
Give a talk using our powerpoint or keynote presentations on zoom at your local pub, school or community centre. You can also download one of our posters.
Contact your local social media groups, newspaper or local radio stations to tell them what you have been doing and spread the word further.
To become one of Grace’s Hogleteers please fill in the form here: CLICK HERE
