PTES awarded grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund
17th September 2026
Pioneering new AI and citizen science framework could help reverse dramatic decline in hedgehog numbers and use community action to secure their future.
PTES has been awarded a £143,000 development grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support a new hedgehog conservation initiative called Hedgehogs in Focus: tracking trends for community conservation. Thanks to National Lottery players, this initial support will lay the foundations for implementing effective monitoring of hedgehog populations and other wild mammals across England, which could play an important role in reversing the dramatic decline in hedgehog numbers recorded over recent decades.
By combining the power of local community action via citizen science with the latest AI technology, the project will create partnerships to deploy a nationwide network of camera traps to provide reliable, large-scale data on hedgehogs in different types of habitat. It will also evaluate the practicalities of training and deploying thousands of volunteers to manage and analyse the results. The work will transform how conservationists track hedgehog populations and, it is hoped, identify where action is needed most. With co-funding from project partners, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), the generous grant from the Lottery will enable PTES, BHPS and their partners at the Zoological Society of London and MammalWeb to bring together the capabilities of AI with people’s passion for hedgehogs.
Nida Al-Fulaij, CEO at People’s Trust for Endangered Species commented: ‘Hedgehogs in Focus is a pioneering initiative that will substantially advance our understanding of hedgehog populations across sites and regions in England and will be vital for directing conservation action. Building a citizen science camera trap network on this scale is ambitious, but we need a national monitoring programme that is both cost-effective and sustainable, while empowering thousands of volunteers to contribute meaningfully to scientific research.
‘By integrating technology and community engagement with wider partnership working across the sector, Hedgehogs in Focus will set a new standard for wildlife monitoring that can be replicated by others. This first phase is vital in realising the full project and I am delighted that The National Lottery Heritage Fund shared our vision for this work and has been able to support us and BHPS to take these important first steps to reverse hedgehog decline in a way that’s never been done before.’
Although the study will make the most of cutting-edge AI models, trained human ‘spotters’ will be a critical part of the research as the full survey will generate millions of images that will need to be correctly filtered and classified. Only a small proportion of the images will capture animals, so AI and other technologies will be developed to automate the initial filtering phase before the human ‘spotters’ take over to verify and refine the final results.
Stuart McLeod, Director of England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: ‘Hedgehogs are one of the UK’s most loved and recognisable native species, yet their numbers have declined dramatically in recent decades. Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re delighted to give our initial support to People’s Trust for Endangered Species as they develop this innovative project, combining cutting-edge technology with the enthusiasm and expertise of volunteers across England.
“Hedgehogs in Focus has the potential to transform our understanding of hedgehog populations, generating the evidence needed to target conservation action where it can make the greatest difference. This project will help ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy and value these amazing animals as part of our natural heritage.’
Fay Vass, Chief Executive for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, which is jointly leading and co-funding this project, stated: ‘Our efforts to secure a future for hedgehogs will be more effective if we have a more accurate understanding of population location and density. We will then be able to better tailor conservation efforts for specific habitats and regions, which is urgently needed.’
