Make a difference

Right on your doorstep

The flush colours and sounds of nature are breath taking, if we take time to really look. Here we hope you will enjoy and learn about how you can help some of our wonderful British wildlife survive in their precious habitats.

Hedgehogs are living on the hedge!

It is estimated that the British hedgehog has declined by 95% since the 1950’s and that there are less than 1 million left in the UK. Hedgehogs are now classed as vulnerable to extinction as their habitats decline. The good news is that there is plenty we can do to help them.

What you can do to help this iconic species:

  • You can make a hole in your fence. It doesn’t have to be bigger than a CD. By doing this you will be helping to keep hedgehogs corridors open for them to travel.
  • Plant a hedge
  • Put a ramp in your pond or a shallow area for hedgehogs to get out of
  • Check before strimming with your hands or foot as looking isn’t enough
  • Think organic when gardening
  • Make a hedgehog house
  • Put fresh food and water out each night. Tinned cat/dog food (not fish based) or small kitten biscuits are ideal. Never give hedgehogs milk as they are lactose intolerant. It can cause severe digestive upset and kill them.
  • Make an insect habitat

Further reading:

Spring into action

Our forests, rivers, oceans and soils provide us with the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we irrigate our crops with and drink.

How you can help the planet:

  • Volunteer for litter picking in your community
  • Visit places that educate about the natural world and everything in it
  • Conserve water
  • Choose sustainable
  • Shop wisely
  • Use long-lasting light bulbs
  • Plant a tree

Find out more about connecting to nature:

Let’s talk bats!

Sadly, bats have severely declined in the last century, but the Bat Conservation Trust and over 100 local bat groups are working hard to help bats.

There are loads of ways you can make your garden into a bat haven, for example:

  • Plant night-scented flowers
  • Build a pond
  • Let your garden go a little wild
  • Put up a bat box
  • Create linear features i.e hedgerows/treelines
  • Reduce or remove artificial lighting
  • Keep cats indoors at night

Find out more information on these wonderful creatures from the Bat Conservation Trust.

Wild about big cats!

There are only 35 Scottish wildcats remaining in the wild in the UK making it the most endangered feline. There is a lot we can do to help, for example if you live in the area, you can report sightings of wild-living cats, make a donation or adopt a wildcat, volunteer and get involved in Scottish Wildcat Haven.

Find out more information on these beautiful cats and how you can help at Wildcat Haven.

Helping garden wildlife

Our gardens are one of the most important habitats for our wonderful British wildlife! Join me on a garden wander in the video below & discover some of the simple things you can do, to encourage wildlife to visit & perhaps regard your garden as a safe place to feed, live & raise young! – ‘Hedgehog Bob’

  • Let the soil settle. To increase populations of earthworms and beetle larvae, including cockchafers, don’t dig your garden soil unless you’re planting
  • Create corridors
  • Help pollinators
  • Feed the birds
  • Create nesting spaces for birds
  • Create a garden wildflower area
  • Stack up your sticks to make insect habitats
  • Let grass be natural

Shepreth Wildlife Conservation Charity

Shepreth Wildlife Conservation Charity (SWCC) was established in March 2011 to help fundraise for important wildlife conservation work both at home and abroad. SWCC has close links with Shepreth Wildlife Park and makes use of the Park in the charity’s fundraising activities.

To date, the wildlife park and SWCC have donated over £350,000 to wild conservation charities which include: WildCats Conservation Alliance, 21st Century Tiger, Madagascar Fauna Group, Wildlife Vets International, Red Wolf Coalition, World Land Trust, Furget-me-not, Amphibian Ark, WWF, EAZA Ape Campaign, EAZA South East Asia Campaign, Red Panda Network, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and the Wildlife Trust.

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