During a recent shopping expedition to my local Waitrose, I picked up the current copy of their Waitrose Weekend paper (25 February 2016) for a quick read of the food recipes. However on this occasion, my attention was taken by the lead article on the front page entitled “Petition call for action to save hedgehogs”.
The article explains that hedgehog numbers have dropped by 50% in urban areas and by 30% in rural areas over the past 15 years leading to the hedgehog becoming a rare sight in our towns, villages and countryside.
I have experienced first-hand the reduction in the hedgehog population since my childhood & actively work to provide access for hedgehogs through my role as an Environmental Manager on construction works.
To help hightlight the plight of the humble hedgehog, a petition for Parliamentary time is being promoted by Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport MP) to discuss whether the hedgehog should have a similar status to the red squirrel under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Currently, there are 22,029 signatories (as at 29 February 2016) to the petition with a total of 100,000 needed by the deadline of 16 August 2016.
I have added my signature to the petition and suggest that, if you value to hedgehog as part of the biodiversity of the British Isles, you should become a signatory too.
The petition can be found here