City of London Corporation - North London hedgehog project

This year we’ve received funding from the City of London Corporation to improve our knowledge of hedgehogs and other species populations in the Hampstead Heath and Highgate Woods areas. A range of monitoring methods and analyses will be used to assess local hedgehog conservation status and inform Local Nature Recovery strategies. This will involve conducting a Random Encounter Model analysis of the three previous Hampstead Heath surveys to obtain robust density estimates and trends. It will also include a 40-camera trap survey of Highgate Woods and local residential gardens.

In our 2017 survey in Highgate Woods, we found one hedgehog. Since then significant efforts by City of London Corporation and Heath Hands have been made to improve the habitat of the park and surrounding areas for hedgehogs. Results from our Rewild Project 2022 indicated that there may be a potential corridor between the Heath and Highgate Woods. Furthermore, participants in East Finchley from our Historical Knowledge Survey indicate that this area could potentially be a hedgehog hotspot. Results from this project will therefore give vital information on the current status and connectivity of hedgehogs in this area to aid conservation efforts.

Part of this grant also incorporates significant community engagement to connect communities with their green spaces, provide opportunities for children and young people to learn, and to offer citizen science training opportunities. This will include four hedgehog workshops and creating a Zooniverse project for volunteers. We will work with Heath Hands and City of London Corporation throughout this project, feeding into our broader collaboration in North London to increase hedgehog connectivity.