The hedgerows of the UK criss-cross our countryside providing an invaluable home to many of our native animals and corridors to travel along for others. Both of these are important to the maintenance of many species.
Hedgerows are so teeming with life that one study counted 2070 species in one 85 metre stretch. But how healthy are our hedgerows?
The survey
People's Trust for Endangered Species is looking for landowners and volunteers to help them build a national picture of hedgerows in the UK. The Great British Hedgerow Survey provides a health check for our hedgerows and gives tailored management advice to help ensure this precious habitat can thrive in the future.
Although the rates of direct hedge removal have been reduced, People's Trust for Endangered Species is still seeing the loss of hedges through the way they are managed. With many farmland species now marginalised to hedgerows, they believe it's time to look at the features of our hedges we can use to protect them.
The battle against the outright loss of hedgerows is being won, but evidence points to a worrying decline in hedgerow condition through poor management. If this persists, these hedges too will perish, dealing a further blow to the chances of survival for all the animals that currently call them home.
This survey is comparatively simple to do, but collects enough vital information to give a good assessment of hedgerow health, as well as robust advice for future management. It has been designed for both land mangers that may want to improve the structural condition of their own hedgerows, but also for interested wildlife groups that want to assess the quality of habitat in any particular area. The data will be collected in order to give a good overview of the condition of our hedgerows nationally.
What are the aims of this survey?
The 2 main aims of the Great British Hedgerow Survey are:
1. A health-check to assess the condition of each hedgerow surveyed. The results offer instant feedback and tailored management advice for each hedge to ensure the hedge thrives for the benefit of our wildlife in the future.
2. To collect data to get a national view of the condition of our hedgerows. Understanding the condition of our hedges gives us the best chances of helping restore them.
How will this help hedgerows?
There are 3 main ways this health-check aims to help improve the health of hedgerows:
1. The survey provides instant feedback on the health of each hedge surveyed, as well as placing it in the hedge management cycle and providing tailored management advice. This advice will help land managers keep their hedge in, or return their hedge to the healthy region of the hedge management cycle, ensuring it thrives and provides for our wildlife in the future.
2. The survey will collate data on a national scale that will reveal trends about hedge health. This will help focus a conservation effort and messaging on these trends in the future.
3. As part of this survey People's Trust for Endangered Species aim to raise the profile of hedgerows and their value both to our native wildlife and to us. They will showcase hedgerows as an asset, discussing how and why landowners should manage them to produce a bigger, better and more joined up network.
Before you start the Great British Hedgerow Survey
Get permission - whether you are surveying hedges as part of a wildlife group, a hedge group or contributing as an individual, if you do not own the land you will need to check with the landowner that they are happy for you to survey and send the survey data.
Please do not upload any data for which you have not got permission to share.
If you would like to take part, please visit the link and read the survey guidlines first >> https://hedgerowsurvey.ptes.org
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