Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2011 | Page 77
COUNTRY LIFE
female ranges that average a more
modest 12 hectares. Hedgehogs
spend more than half their active
time foraging for food, and routinely
travel two or more kilometres during
a night in search of invertebrate prey.
But as our gardening habits have
changed over the years, the urban
landscape has developed barriers to
these nightly wanderings. Garden
decking, bigger patios, brick walls
and sturdy fencing have made gardens
almost impenetrable to wildlife. And
rigorous tidying has made gardens a
less desirable habitat.
The Hedgehog Preservation Society
and the People’s Trust for Endangered
Species have teamed up on a new
Create
a better
future for
wildlife
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Wildlife Trust works to create
a better future for wildlife and
wild places in Hampshire and the
Island. As the leading local wildlife
conservation charity, it looks after
57 wildlife reserves, has 28,000
members and 1,000 volunteers.
The Trust manages its own land
and advises other landowners how
to manage their land with wildlife
in mind. Staff and volunteers also
carry out surveys and gather data
to monitor how our local wildlife is
doing. Find out more at www.hwt.
org.uk.
Beechcroft House, Vicarage Lane,
Curdridge, Hampshire SO32 2DP
www.hwt.org.uk
project called Hedgehog Street.
They are asking neighbours to create
hedgehog friendly linkages between
their gardens. A 10cm by 12cm hole
in the garden fence could make all the
difference to a hedgehog. For more
hedgehog friendly ideas, go to www.
hedgehogstreet.org.
We would like to know more about
how hedgehog populations are faring.
If you have any records of hedgehogs,
please send them to the county
recorder at [email protected].
The records are collected by the
Isle of Wight Natural History and
Archaeological Society and shared
with the Wildlife Trust and the Local
Records Centre to provide up to date
News
information to people involved in
hedgehog conservation.
Remember, gardens are mini nature
reserves. As gardens are the traditional
stronghold of the humble hedgehog,
most of us can do our bit help: let’s
provide hedgehogs with the small
corridors they need to move about.
Be a part of the Big
Wildlife Garden
Everyone has the opportunity to help
create the UK’s largest nature reserve
– with the launch of the ‘Big Wildlife
Garden’ (BWG) competition.
The competition - a commitment in
the Government’s recently published
Natural Environment White Paper is being run by The Wildlife Trusts
and the Royal Horticultural Society,
with funding from the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra).
The Big Wildlife Garden competition
encourages everyone to do some
wildlife gardening on their doorstep.
Anyone is eligible to take part –
including individuals, communities,
businesses and schools – and no space
is too small to be transformed; be it a
window box, school playing field or
retail park in a town, city or in the
countryside. There are six categories
and entry is free via the BWG website
www.bigwildlifegarden.org.uk.
Natalie Rogers, Wildlife Information
Officer for Hampshire & Isle of
Wight Wildlife Trust says, "Gardens
are vitally important for wildlife
and create a patchwork of habitat
for local plants and animals. The
Wildlife Trust's 'Living Landscapes'
vision involves linking up habitats to
conserve nature, and gardens will play
an important role in this. Hampshire
and the Island have some wonderful
wildlife gardens so please enter the
competition to show the UK how
fabulous our two counties are for
wildlife!"
Entries for the BWG competition
can be submitted now. The
competition closes on 7V