Simply create a wild patch, record its location online and encourage much-needed natural insect prey and nesting materials for native hedgehogs
This July, gardeners, families and individuals are being urged to create wild patches as part of a new campaign to make more spaces with natural insect food and nesting materials for native hedgehogs.
The new ‘Go WILD for Hedgehogs’ campaign from Hedgehog Street – run by wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) – simply involves leaving a wild, undisturbed patch in a garden and recording its location online. Not only does this create much-needed food and shelter for hedgehogs, but also tells conservationists at PTES and BHPS where hedgehog havens are, and where more are needed.
The campaign begins this summer when people in all corners of the UK are asked to choose a patch, strip or corner of their garden to leave undisturbed, untrimmed, and simply let it grow. Once selected, you will then just need to upload photos and record the location online. To go the extra mile, Hedgehog Street suggests planting wildflower seeds in autumn to further attract pollinators and other insects the following year. Throughout the year Hedgehog Street will share updates and top tips such as how to maximise wild patches, what to look out for and other ways to help hedgehogs as the seasons change.
Grace Johnson, Hedgehog Officer for Hedgehog Street said: “Wild patches are a brilliant way to help hedgehogs, and best of all, they’re minimal effort and cost! By simply allowing an area to grow a little wild and undisturbed, you can help to create a diverse habitat that’s perfect for hedgehogs and other garden wildlife in the heart of our villages, towns and cities. Instead of weeding and mowing, sit back, relax and watch nature thrive in your garden.”
Hedgehogs face many threats and are in widespread decline. According to the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report published by BHPS and PTES, rural populations have plummeted by between 30-75% since 2000. Yet encouragingly, the report also showed that populations in urban areas may be starting to recover, likely thanks to Hedgehog Street’s 130,000 volunteer Hedgehog Champions and the wider public who continue to make their gardens and local green spaces more hedgehog friendly. The new ‘Go WILD for Hedgehogs’ campaign builds on this as gardens, and especially wild patches, can offer important refuges for hedgehogs and can help reverse the decline that this much-loved nocturnal species is facing.
Extra ways to turn any garden into a hedgehog haven include providing compost heaps and log and leaf piles to further encourage natural insect prey and offer places to nest, leaving out shallow dishes of water, and/or creating a wildlife pond with sloping sides or an escape ramp. Then, connect this amazing new habitat by popping 13cm x 13cm square holes (known as ‘Hedgehog Highways’) in or under garden fences to allow hedgehogs to move between green spaces in search of food, shelter and mates. Special ‘Hedgehog Highway’ signs can be bought from BHPS or PTES to tell neighbours and any future homeowners why the Highway is there, and why it needs to remain open.
Those without a garden can still help hedgehogs too; contact local councils and developers to highlight the importance of managing parks and public green spaces for hedgehogs, call for new-build sites to be hedgehog friendly, and raise awareness of the urgent need to help hedgehogs by sharing PTES and BHPS’ social media posts and talking with friends, family, neighbours and colleagues about ways they can help hedgehogs. Becoming a volunteer ‘spotter’ for PTES and BHPS’ National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme, which can be done from your own home, is a great way to help too.
To find out more and to register your wild patch, visit www.hedgehogstreet.org/go-wild-for-hedgehogs
And, if you’re on social media, BHPS and PTES would love to see your wild patch pictures using #GoWildForHedgehogs
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For high-res hedgehog images and night-time trail camera footage**, interview and/or filming requests, or for more information, contact Adela Cragg:
T: 07532 685 614
E: adelacraggPR@outlook.com
**NB: Hedgehogs are a nocturnal species and therefore are not usually seen out during the day, unless they are moving nest sites or are unwell. BHPS and PTES therefore do not condone the filming of hedgehogs during daylight hours, or indeed hold such footage and/or still images for media use. We ask that only night-time or dusk footage and/or stills of hedgehogs are used by media outlets, and we have numerous stills and clips of hedgehogs in gardens (walking through Hedgehog Highways, eating, drinking and scratching, to name a few!) which we can supply for such use. For more information see the TV Code of Conduct.
Notes to editors
Available for interview
- Grace Johnson, Hedgehog Officer for Hedgehog Street
- Fay Vass, CEO of The British Hedgehog Preservation Society
- Nida Al-Fulaij, CEO of People’s Trust for Endangered Species
- Hugh Warwick, Ecologist and Author, The British Hedgehog Preservation Society
About The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS)
- BHPS is a registered UK Charity, founded in 1982, dedicated to helping & protecting hedgehogs native to the UK (Erinaceus europaeus). Through our campaigns, advocacy and educational projects we work to raise awareness of the practical steps we can take to help reverse the decline of hedgehogs in the wild, improve their welfare and safeguard the future of this much-loved animal. We also fund research that provides important new insights into the conservation and welfare of hedgehogs.
- Visit www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk and follow BHPS on Facebook, Bluesky, X, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn
About People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
- PTES, a UK conservation charity created in 1977, is ensuring a future for endangered species throughout the world. We protect some of our most threatened wildlife species and habitats, and provide practical conservation support through research, grant-aid, educational programmes, wildlife surveys, publications and public events.
- PTES’ current priority species and habitats include hazel dormice, hedgehogs, water voles, noble chafers, stag beetles, traditional orchards, native woodlands, wood pasture and parkland and hedgerows.
- Visit www.ptes.org and follow PTES on Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
About Hedgehog Street
Hedgehog Street is a joint campaign by wildlife charities: the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). It’s an ongoing project which was launched in June 2011 and encourages people to make small changes in their own gardens, which will make a big difference for hedgehogs. To date, over 130,000 volunteer “Hedgehog Champions” up and down the country have registered to help, but we always need more volunteers!
A range of academic research projects are currently being funded by BHPS and PTES, aiming to further scientific understanding about the causes for the decline and most importantly what can be done to reverse this threat to this iconic species.
The free Hedgehog Street app was launched in January 2020 and is available from the Apple Store or Google Play.
Hedgehog Street is also liaising with farmers or rural landowners, housing developers and greenspace land managers, to help better manage their land to support wild hedgehog populations.
The charities’ Hedgehog Street gardenwon Gold at the 2014 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and People’s Choice Award in the summer garden category.
Visit www.hedgehogstreet.org for more information.
Lead image credit Christopher Morgan