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Hedgehog Awareness in Charnwood
The idverde Charnwood depot has become the third depot this year to raise awareness of Hedgehogs through labelling up their cutting machinery and further educating their operatives on the importance of looking out for Hedgehogs when operating equipment.
More projects for Charnwood Borough CouncilThe idverde Charnwood depot has become the third depot this year to raise awareness of Hedgehogs through labelling up their cutting machinery and further educating their operatives on the importance of looking out for Hedgehogs when operating equipment.
This follows our Bromley and Telford depots in ensuring that all idverde operatives using cutting equipment on a daily basis have their knowledge enhanced. Our teams often carry out works in and around public parks, woodlands and boundary hedges. This means that they tackle areas that would be the perfect habitat for Hedgehogs and make every effort possible to not disturb them. Charnwood will join Bromley and Telford on the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) ‘Roll of Honour’ with over 100 other businesses that have pledged to become Hedgehog aware.
The bright yellow ‘hedgehog awareness’ stickers, which were supplied by BHPS, were distributed and placed on essential machinery. It is hoped that the stickers will not only increase awareness of Hedgehogs but lead to awareness of other wildlife during the cutting season and throughout general maintenance schedules. This is not only a sticker but a direct connection between species declines in urban areas and the small steps the public and small to large businesses can take to halt further declines in wildlife.
Booklets containing Hedgehog conservation advice from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and Hedgehog Street have also been issued around the depot, available for the team to use at any time.
The concerning decline in Hedgehog numbers
In the past decade, we have lost over a half of rural Hedgehogs and a third from towns and cities. There are estimated to be around a million hedgehogs left, which is a drastic fall from the 30 million that was estimated in the 1950’s. Additionally, there was a 30% decrease in Hedgehog sightings between 2003-2017.
In 2020, they joined the country’s ‘Red List of Critically Endangered Species’ and were officially declared vulnerable. It is thought that the decline is mainly due to habitat and food loss. Large scale farming, in particular, has deprived Hedgehogs of their habitats.
It doesn’t just stop at agriculture, residential gardens are also becoming more sparse over the years, lacking the hedges that Hedgehogs would use to hide. Hedgehogs are also eating chemicals from residential gardens used to kill slugs, snails or insects.
Liam, our Grounds Maintenance Operative at the Charnwood depot, spoke about the proactiveness of becoming more Hedgehog aware:
Although these are great steps, it is important to note that more needs to be done for Hedgehogs. It is vital for urbanised species that future legislation is tailed for connectivity and sympathetic land management in and around urban areas if Hedgehogs and species that rely on the same habitat, are going to survive. idverde has a huge part to play in that process, leading by example through our sustainability strategy.