KNEBWORTH ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP
Support the local community and help save the planet
You will undoubtably be aware that the UK is one of the most nature poor areas in the world. The UK government is seeking to reverse the decline in habitat and species.
Every four years the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society publish a report on the state of British Hedgehog populations. In 2018, they reported that since 2000, hedgehog populations had declined by half in rural areas and a third in towns and cities. In 2022, it was reported that populations continued to drop in rural areas but had slowed, and were possibly recovering, in urban populations.
So how can we help protect the British Hedgehog?
One simple action you can take is to let hedgehogs into your garden. A hedgehog can travel 2 miles in a single night. This means they need a lot of land for foraging, hibernating and reproducing and it seems they are increasingly preferring to come to villages and cities to find what they need. Gardens have potential as a huge area of suitable habitat for hedgehogs to feed and reproduce. The easier it is for them to travel via gardens, the less time they have to spend crossing roads, (Hedgehogs do not like roads, enough said).
Where once many gardens were bounded by hedges or perhaps a simple paling fence, both of which were permeable to mammals like hedgehogs, we are increasingly enclosing our gardens with solid fencing and solid timber or concrete gravel boards. Keeping or converting to hedges not only helps the hogs but also insects and birds, reduces noise, CO2, and absorbs pollution. Cutting holes in gravel boards or digging tunnels under them will also help. Don’t forget to speak to your neighbour as they move about and the more hedgehog friendly features they can access, the more likely you will see one.
Last winter a Knebworth resident left a stack of wood offcuts and some dry grass in their garden and in the spring, when removing the top covering of wood offcuts discovered a hedgehog had used the “construction” over the winter.
P.S. Milk and bread = bad for hedgehogs, cat or dog food O.K.
To find out more visit our website (https://e-voice.org.uk/knebworthenvironmentalgroup/) where there is more hedgehog information and some useful links to other sites.
Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/knebworthenvironmentalgroup). You can also contact us via email to Kristin at knebworthenvironmentalgroup@gmail.com. Our next meeting is at 8PM on the 8th of March at the Station pub: you can email in advance or just turn up.