AN URGENT campaign has been launched to protect Dorset’s hedgerows in order to prevent the further decline of species such as dormice.

Dorset Wildlife Trust needs to raise £30,000 to allow its winter hedgerow maintenance work to continue.

Hedgerows provide habitat and food for up to 3,000 species of wildlife including bats, hedgehogs, and hazel dormice.

The wildlife charity needs funding to ensure it can carry out 1,000m of hedgelaying, 3,200m of hedgerow trimming, and 1,300m of protective hedge fencing this winter.

Hedgerows have dramatically declined in the UK since the Second World War.

And in the last 16 years, the population of dormice has dropped by a third - a rate of decline equivalent to 55 per cent over 25 years.

DWT’s head of land management, Rob Brunt, said: “Hedges are an iconic part of the Dorset landscape, and they need to be managed properly if they are to continue to benefit wildlife. They are used as corridors for wildlife to travel through safely, provide shelter and homes, and are also an important source of food.

Due to changes in our funding, we need to raise £30,000 to plant new hedgerows and maintain existing ones. Our concern is that already declining wildlife will suffer if we are unable to carry out this work.”

The State of Nature report, published in September 2016, revealed many of the UK’s once common wildlife species, such as the hedgehog, are in decline. More than 1,000 insects, 65 birds and 20 mammals, most species of bat, and even the great crested newt all require a well-connected network of hedges to thrive in.

The State of Britain’s Dormice report also found that dormice are extinct in 17 English counties since the late 1800s.

As part of its work, DWT needs to plant new hedgerow trees to replace the trees which have been removed or severely damaged by disease. It is predicted that in the next five to 15 years the recent ash dieback disease (Chalara dieback) is expected to kill most ashes in Dorset. Ash trees are Dorset’s second most common hedgerow tree, which are vital to maintain the biodiversity of the hedgerow.

To donate to DWT’s hedgerow work appeal, visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/hedgerowappeal.html, or call 01305 264620.