A spike in hedgehog sightings!

Across parks, gardens and nature reserves in the borough, residents and dedicated community groups are stepping up to help our hedgehogs, supported by the council’s Together we are Waltham Forest campaign. 

And the latest data shows that although this charismatic British mammal is declining on a national scale, there has been a significant increase in sightings in our borough over the last ten years. 

We have teamed up with Greenspace Information in Greater London (GIGL), which gathers data, sightings and records of nature to build a detailed picture of local wildlife populations, including hedgehogs.

Data indicates that there has been an notable increase in the number of hedgehog sightings recorded in Waltham Forest, compared to 2014, and the areas in the borough where they have been recorded have also expanded significantly. 

Whilst the north of the borough showed the highest number of sightings, there are in fact, records in or around all four of the borough’s centres; Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow and Chingford. 

Cllr Clyde Loakes MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality said:  “To help hedgehogs and other wildlife we need to know more about them, so gathering data and information is vital to our conservation efforts. 

“It’s encouraging that this latest data indicates an increase in hedgehog sightings, as well as an expansion of the range of records to new parts of the borough.

“Just as importantly though, it shows that more residents are spotting and reporting them than ever before, giving us a much better picture of where our action can have the most impact.​

“This data is incredibly useful, but it is only a snapshot, and we know hedgehogs are in trouble on a national level, there is a lot more to do. 

“Through our programme of nature recovery, we are enhancing and expanding green spaces and wildlife corridors in partnership with residents and groups like the Conservation Volunteers (TCV). I hope this will continue to help boost our local hedgehog populations further.

“I encourage local people to keep an eye out for hedgehogs and other species and record them to help us understand more about the wildlife on our doorstep.”

The council’s Together we are Waltham Forest campaign is supporting the dedicated local people playing a vital role in local conservation efforts and helping us to protect the environment and help nature thrive. 

Claire Ford is part of the Friends of Pimp Hall Nature Reserve, a fantastic local group dedicated to enhancing and supporting this vital green space in Chingford. 

Claire said: “We are a volunteer group made up of local people and meet here at Pimp Hall Nature Reserve every month with the aim of making the nature reserve greener and wilder. We’ve also hosted fun activities and walks for children to help them learn about hedgehogs and local nature. 

“We do a range of conservation work to do this, including managing brambles, planting and creating new habitats. We recently set up some hedgehog footprint traps and on the very first night we had tracks indicating hedgehogs had visited!”

And in Leytonstone, local resident Mike Watson is taking the lead in ensuring that a hedgehog he found in his local area in malnourished and disoriented state has the chance to be returned to the wild.  

Mike explains: “My daughter and I found ‘Benson’ as we call this hedgehog, in a really weakened state a couple of months ago. We brought it home and looked online to get the best advice on how to help and treat. We’ve kept it warm, well-fed and safe. Now it is really putting on the weight and becoming stronger. 

“We are following the advice to give Benson the best chance to thrive - working on increasing its weight and hopefully we will be able to return it to the wild as soon as this is possible and the right course of action.”

Reporting on sightings of hedgehogs and other key species is quick and easy and helps gather vital conservation data. You can get involved using iRecord to report sightings.