Celebrating our Gold 'Hedgehog Friendly Campus'

We have been awarded a Gold award Hedgehog Friendly Campus accreditation.

Hedgehog numbers are declining fast across the UK. We decided to act, making a commitment to complete a set of actions last year, and protect hedgehogs on our Colchester Campus. 

How we are protecting hedgehogs on campus

1. We have over 25 hedgehog champions both staff and students. If you want to be a hedgehog champion you can sign up online.
2. Local residents have been informed of the campaign and encouraged to help.
3. Our accommodation teams discussed garden improvements with private landlords.
4. University grounds teams now leave log piles for hedgehogs where it’s safe to do so.
5. Dedicated areas on campus have been left to grow as ‘wild corners’ and our landscape policy has been revised.
6. A hedgehog survey has been performed on and off of campus. Sadly, we have not yet found hedgehog prints on campus.
7. We keep our campus litter free.
8. We created a campaign video to encourage others to protect hedgehogs.
9. Our Grounds team have put stickers on their grass cutting equipment to remind them to check for hedgehogs before they start cutting the grass.

Want to help create a safer environment for hedgehogs?

• In hot weather leave out a shallow dish of water for hedgehogs and other wildlife.
• Think of your garden as part of a local network. Understand that no garden is large enough for a hedgehog population; one garden cannot offer everything they need. Create a hedgehog hole in your fence.
• Be careful when tidying leaf piles – they are a potential nesting site and there may be a hedgehog in residence.
• Let a ‘wild corner’ grow in your garden which hedgehogs can enjoy.
• If you have a pond, make sure there is something for a hedgehog to climb onto if it finds itself in the water.

We want to thank all staff and students for helping us achieve our Gold award status and helping keep campus litter free.