Project Dates: 1.5.25 to 1.5.26

In 2020 Hedgehogs were included in the IUCN Red list as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ in Great Britain. The North Devon Hedgehog project will engage communities across North Devon to help this iconic and much-loved native species to recover.

The project recognises the following challenges and opportunities for Hedgehogs:

• The development of existing and new housing, and road networks, has reduced safe habitat for Hedgehogs
• Despite existing resources, and committed individuals, much more can be done to support Hedgehogs in towns and villages, and this work is highly replicable
• Children can play a vital role as agents of change in their communities
• Neighbouring communities can inspire, support, and learn from each other.

 

Key activities the project will deliver:

• Launch event during Hedgehog Week (5-11 May 2025)
• New Hedgehog Champions scheme in local communities
• Educational workshops
• Hedgehog highways
• Feeding stations
• Road crossing signage
• Hedgehog habitat enhancements
• Quantitative data using online mapping tools, such as Hedgehog Street
• Qualitative data from stories of people involved.

 

The Hedgehog project will measure its impact through recording the number hedgehog sightings (using trail cams and footprint tunnels), hedgehog holes, gardens managed for hedgehogs (e.g. pond ladders and feeding stations), and the number of people directly involved.

 

Objectives:

• Empowering children to be agents of change in their communities
• Helping vulnerable hedgehog populations to recover
• Creating a platform for other hedgehog projects
• Inspiring future community-based conservation projects, using the Braunton Countryside Centre as a hub.

 

Methodology:

• Working across 5 communities
• Creating 200 labelled hedgehog holes
• Installing hedgehog crossing signage
• Establishing 25 feeding stations
• Supporting 4 new hedgehog community groups
• Conducting 25 workshops with children/communities
• Managing 100 gardens as hedgehog-friendly spaces
• Monitoring hedgehogs using footprint tunnels.

 

Special thanks to Elizabeth Scarlett and Nobody’s Child for generously supporting this project through their ‘inspired by nature‘ collaboration to protect and restore vulnerable species at the grassroots.

IMPACT SUMMARY NOVEMBER 2025:

Project Activities

• Delivered 16 events across the five communities, including workshops with schools, local residents, and parish councils.
• To date, the project has engaged over 750 people, with a strong emphasis on involving children.
• The project has welcomed two university students who are contributing through research. One is supporting activities at a local primary school, while the other is producing a 90-second explainer video to help communicate the project’s aims.
• Over 800 people (including 500 children) have so far engaged with the project. Over 30 individuals are now actively contributing to the project, including volunteers, educators, and community members.
• Visible progress includes road signage ready for installation in Braunton, the creation of eight hedgehog feeding stations in Appledore, and ten more in Chulmleigh. Mapping activities have begun across four communities, laying the groundwork for tracking hedgehog highways and wildlife-friendly gardens.
• Run a live-streaming of a national Hedgehog Symposium at BCC on 24th November which will include inviting students from PETROC (HE) College
  Submitted three potential sites to the National Hedgehog Monitoring
• Programme and are awaiting approval for surveys to begin in Spring 2026. These surveys will cover 250-acre mixed habitat sites over 30 days using 30 trail cameras.

 

Project Impacts

• Raising awareness across North Devon communities of the conservation concern of hedgehogs, and providing opportunities for people to carryout hedgehog friendly activities.
• The 90-second explainer video, currently in production by a university student, will further support outreach and help communicate the project’s aims more effectively.
• Increasing community support for hedgehog conservation, through facilitating wildlife friendly activities and acccess to volunteer opportunities.
• Improving local access to environmental education materials.