Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support hedgehog conservation initiatives in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

48 responsible authorities were appointed by Defra to prepare Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for their area. Under Hertfordshire County Council’s draft LNRS, the hedgehog is designated as a ‘Flagship Species’ which is set to benefit from identified local actions to recover their habitat, thereby aiding their conservation.

Nationally, Natural England is supporting the National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy and the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme. The information gathered from these projects will produce insights into the factors causing hedgehog population decline, leading to the implementation of practical conservation measures to address this challenge.