Overview
- British Hedgehog Preservation Society and Hedgehog Street are promoting a Stop–Move–Check plan to prevent wildlife harm from garden bonfires.
- Guidance urges building bonfires on the day of lighting, moving piles to clear ground, checking thoroughly with a torch and a pole or broom, and lighting from one side.
- Advice stresses never using a spade or fork when checking piles because these tools can injure hidden animals.
- Barratt and David Wilson Homes is amplifying the campaign, citing hedgehog-friendly measures such as 13 cm ‘Hedgehog Highways’ in fences and on-site hedgehog homes through its RSPB-linked efforts.
- Hedgehog Street encourages the public to report sightings on the BIG Hedgehog Map, as monitoring shows rural hedgehog numbers down by up to 75% since 2000 and the species listed as Vulnerable.