New leaflet: Helping hedgehogs on your land

2nd September 2026

Rural hedgehogs are disappearing at an alarming rate. In the last two decades, numbers have continued to decline by between a third and three-quarters nationally.

Hedgehog Street has published an updated FREE guide for the wider farming community and land managers about how we can help hedgehogs and other wildlife to thrive once again in the countryside.

We outline different ways that land can be more hedgehog-friendly, without compromising day-to-day work, including advice on:

• Hedgerow management
• Field margin availability and management
• Field size in relation to habitat availability
• Ploughing regimes in relation to prey availability
• The usefulness of areas of scrub and decaying vegetation

We also advise how to help hedgehogs through hibernation and how to reduce hazards such as cattle grids and electric fencing.

How you can help

We know there are many farmers across the UK already doing fantastic work by farming their land in a sensitive manner in a bid to help hedgehogs, but we really need to engage with more farmers if we’re to make a difference to rural hedgehog numbers. We hope this guide will provide the advice needed to help hedgehogs and other wildlife in rural areas.

To obtain a FREE copy of this guide, please contact hedgehogs@ptes.org or download a PDF version here.