Shropshire organic farm highlights plight of the hedgehog

The plight of the hedgehog and how the public can support their shrinking population will be the theme of a special event at Babbinswood Farm, the Shropshire farm at the centre of a community ownership campaign.

The Hedgehog Awareness event will be held at the organic farm, near Whittington, Oswestry, on Saturday July 12 from 1pm to 4pm.

Daisy Kirtley, one of the organisers, said that the overall hedgehog population had fallen dramatically all over the country since the 1950s, with a 95% decline recorded.

She added that the drop in rural areas has recently been more pronounced than in urban areas, with hedgehog sightings down 50 per cent in rural areas compared to 30 per cent in urban settings since 2000.

Babbinswood Farm appearedto be bucking the trend and could be seen as a bit of a ‘hedgehog hot spot’, said Daisy.

The farm has been used as a hedgehog release spot for rescued and recovered hedgehogs because of its diverse mix of habitats. Its organic pastures also support the hedgehog’s main diet of carabid beetles and hedgehogs have been spotted on the farm in the last year.

Visitors will be asked to share their experiences of hedgehog sightings as well as getting information on why hedgehogs are endangered, what to do if you find a hedgehog and how to protect and increase the hedgehog population.

Proceeds from the Hedgehog Awareness event will go to the Babbinswood Farm Community Benefit Society, which is leading the campaign to put 117 acres of the farm into community ownership.

Between £800,000 and £1.5m is needed by the end of September through community shares, donations and grants to safeguard the farm’s organic pastures, its special cow and calf dairy herd and expand its community initiatives.

Fund raisers have already raised over £105,000 in their campaign to save part of the farm from being sold on the open market because of a change in family circumstances.

If the farm can be saved, the community benefit society plans to plant more hedgerows on the south fields creating extra habitat for the nation’s favourite spikey mammal, said Daisy.

Further information on the fund raising and community shares is available on the website www.babbinswoodfarmcbs.org.uk or by emailing future@babbinswoodfarmcbs.org.uk.

A Crowdfunder page is at Save Babbinswood Farm - a Community crowdfunding project in Oswestry by Babbinswood Farm Community Benefit Society

Further information on the hedgehog day and other nature activities is on the Babbinswood Farm website at BABBINSWOOD FARM