A project to create the UK’s first dedicated hedgehog conservation area is being launched, as part of efforts to reverse declines in populations of the prickly creature.
A “hedgehog improvement area” is being established in Solihull, West Midlands, centred on a 90 hectare (220 acre) reserve for hedgehogs, which are under threat nationally from development and the loss of hedgerows and other habitat.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s scheme, funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, will also work with the local community to raise awareness of the animals’ plight and bring in hedgehog-friendly measures such as small holes in their fences.
Surveys of the hedgehog population will also be carried out, with residents trained and encouraged to conduct surveying in their own gardens using hedgehog footprint tunnels and remote wildlife cameras loaned by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.
The reserve will incorporate the Trust’s Elmdon Manor nature reserve and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council’s Elmdon Park. A group of volunteer “wildlife guardians” will manage the area to help boost the population of hedgehogs.
More on: www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/17/uks-first-hedgehog-conservation-area-planned
