This is not just about birds, dormice and fluffy rural inhabitants. The issue we explore here gives cause for concern
across the entire ecosystem of the British countryside and affects not only wildlife populations,
but the ability of our landscape to combat CO2 emissions.
Scroll down for comments on this site.
across the entire ecosystem of the British countryside and affects not only wildlife populations,
but the ability of our landscape to combat CO2 emissions.
Scroll down for comments on this site.
Image Credit: Aaron Cooper, Still Cast Photography
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"I have seen local allotments having all the hedges removed and seen a decline in local bird populations. There is also new big shops on part of our green belt land that have removed a massive hedgerow recently too. Very sad."
Denise R
Denise R
"...where I live thank goodness there still are tons of hedgegroves."
Carole A
Carole A
"We definitely need miles more thick dense and mixed hedgerow for a multitude of reasons."
Claire E
Claire E
"The farmers could save money and time by not cutting in the Autumn, and the benefit would be incredible."
Carolyn S
Carolyn S
"It's time to act now before it's too late for wildlife and the environment and for us !
Without hedgerows the countryside and towns become sterile deserts.
Not a world I want to live in !"
Julie L
Without hedgerows the countryside and towns become sterile deserts.
Not a world I want to live in !"
Julie L
"Not cutting every year needs to become standard practice in the farming community."
Ben N
Ben N
"Wildlife must come first."
Michael B
Michael B
"I have a huge beautiful hedge in my back garden. Since I moved here 29 years ago I’ve protected it like one of my children, and now hedgehogs are in it, so many bird species nesting in it , insects galore, bats, several tiny shrews and other minuscule rodents, foxes…. It’s superb. It’s now full of well fed wildlife. It’s made up of blackthorn, Hawthorne, Holly, ivy, elder, privet, with blackberry threading through…. Nettles along the bottom in places. Farmers and other landowners are very destructive. A healthy hedge is such a beautiful thing to see."
Jan E-C
Jan E-C
"We need to protect and provide for all wild life."
Edith O'D
Edith O'D
"People need to be educated in sustainable actions to protect wildlife and their habitat. It would be a sad world without these creatures."
Vivien J
Vivien J
"Birds & hedgehogs are in decline due to hedgerow destruction, they need protecting & new ones planted!"
Paul N
Paul N
"Oh how I wish farmers would go back to hand tools instead of massive crushing mincing destructive machines.
I don’t get any blackberries either. Farmers round here cut the hedges just as they’re ripening."
Alison Y
I don’t get any blackberries either. Farmers round here cut the hedges just as they’re ripening."
Alison Y
"Con you give me more information on what this scheme is about, some of the comments don't seem to add up, it's illegal to trim or lay a hedge after the 31st of March to allow birds to nest, and if hedgerows are not maintained we will have a overgrown wilderness, also there are miles of hedgerows layed every year."
Gwyn D, Farmer
Gwyn D, Farmer
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ?????
WHAT BULLS---- DO YOU GET OFF YOU BACKSIDE AND GO AND WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.
I HAVE BEEN LAYING HEDGEROWS FOR THE PAST 30YEARS PLUS. THE PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWN ARE OF THE WINTER / AUTUM, WHEN THERE IS VERY LITTLE COVER ANYWAY. THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MATURE HEDGE IS AT THE PREDITOR STATE FOR NESTING MAGPIES AND CROWS.
I WISH PEOPLE LIKE YOUR GROUP GO OUT AND DO THE RESEARCH AND NOT OFF WIKKI AND THE INTERNET.
[Ed: Note that 'protection' means the hedge cannot be removed. You are, however, free to render it unsustainable.] RESEARCH 1997 HEDGEROW REGULATIONS ACT. A HEDGEROW IS PROTECTED IF 40 YEARS OR OLDER AND SPIECIES RICH. AND IS MAINTAINED IN THE TRADTIONAL WAY. AND YOU CAN GRUB OUT WITH PERMISSION, OLY TO REPLANT THE SAME AMOUNT WHICH YOU REMOVE! CONTACT YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL TO IMPLEMENT IT. AS FOR SAVING ANCIENT TREES HAVE A LOOK AT THE NEWS FOOTAGE OF THE LAST GALES.
THERE ARE NO "ANCIENT" WOODLANDS LEFT ONLY SITES OF "ANCIENT" WOODLANDS AND IF YOU WANT TO NOT MANAGE THE WOODLANDS BY CONTOLLED MANAGMENT YOU ARE NOT THINKING IN THE WIDER PICTURE OF THE FLORA AND FUANA OF THAT WOODLAND.
Philip Rowell (Hedgelayer and coppice worker)
WHAT BULLS---- DO YOU GET OFF YOU BACKSIDE AND GO AND WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.
I HAVE BEEN LAYING HEDGEROWS FOR THE PAST 30YEARS PLUS. THE PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWN ARE OF THE WINTER / AUTUM, WHEN THERE IS VERY LITTLE COVER ANYWAY. THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MATURE HEDGE IS AT THE PREDITOR STATE FOR NESTING MAGPIES AND CROWS.
I WISH PEOPLE LIKE YOUR GROUP GO OUT AND DO THE RESEARCH AND NOT OFF WIKKI AND THE INTERNET.
[Ed: Note that 'protection' means the hedge cannot be removed. You are, however, free to render it unsustainable.] RESEARCH 1997 HEDGEROW REGULATIONS ACT. A HEDGEROW IS PROTECTED IF 40 YEARS OR OLDER AND SPIECIES RICH. AND IS MAINTAINED IN THE TRADTIONAL WAY. AND YOU CAN GRUB OUT WITH PERMISSION, OLY TO REPLANT THE SAME AMOUNT WHICH YOU REMOVE! CONTACT YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL TO IMPLEMENT IT. AS FOR SAVING ANCIENT TREES HAVE A LOOK AT THE NEWS FOOTAGE OF THE LAST GALES.
THERE ARE NO "ANCIENT" WOODLANDS LEFT ONLY SITES OF "ANCIENT" WOODLANDS AND IF YOU WANT TO NOT MANAGE THE WOODLANDS BY CONTOLLED MANAGMENT YOU ARE NOT THINKING IN THE WIDER PICTURE OF THE FLORA AND FUANA OF THAT WOODLAND.
Philip Rowell (Hedgelayer and coppice worker)
"I despair when I see the murder of the hedgerows and trees at the side of the road flailed, hacked and decimated.
Verges are often left mostly un-cut {in my area} which is good but the small trees and hedges are destroyed.
Then the farmers have to put up fences barbed wire and old pallets in the holes because the hedges are so depleted. This is madness."
Hilary C
Verges are often left mostly un-cut {in my area} which is good but the small trees and hedges are destroyed.
Then the farmers have to put up fences barbed wire and old pallets in the holes because the hedges are so depleted. This is madness."
Hilary C
"The indiscriminate mechanised slashing of hedgerows in order to collect government subsidies is appallingly bad for the hedges specifically and for wildlife and biodiversity in general. There MUST be proper standards for hedge trimming if these hedging subsidies are to be continued."
Paul S
Paul S
"Hedgerows are being destroyed not trimmed. A hedge line should be left for about three years and carefully cut back..making sure that some parts are allowed to become trees. The hedge was once an important habitat for animal and bird life and of course all kinds of plants...but hedges are being scalped and no longer prove food or shelter and neither do the plants that make up the hedgerows get a chance to flower and bring forth seed...continuity of species is endangered. Humankind needs to reconcile with the natural environment in all its infinite manifestations...but especially those that call themselves caretakers of the Land, which apparently is a blatant lie."
Clive C
Clive C
"Please help farmers to preserve their remaining hedges. They are the means of survival for many of our wildlife. Our futures rely on bio diversity in our interrelated world!"
June G
June G
"Just love looking in the hedgerows when I’m out walking. I watched a little mouse climbing about and further along saw the tiny firecrests. Such a shame so many have been destroyed."
Helen P
Helen P
"Please save our hedgerows."
Miriam T
Miriam T
"It is so disheartening to see these beautiful ancient hedgerows being decimated. Everyone is so obsessed with neatness leaving no room for nature to do its thing. Keep up the good work!"
Alex McM
Alex McM
"Bring back the bigger hedgerows. When did you last see a Bullfinch??"
Mark G
Mark G
"We need to protect the hedgerows. Theres nothing left for the wildlife if we don't. No wildlife, no human."
Jacqui R
Jacqui R
"Hedges help to stop flooding, sustain flora and fauna, provide interest to all; they protect land, and provide shelter for animals. There are so many benefits so we have to stop all this destruction. Furthermore, 'hedges are brilliant at capturing carbon. A new hedgerow can absorb the carbon produced by a car travelling over 600 miles'. Evidence suggests they are natural barriers to harmful air pollution in our streets if they are at the level of pedestrians. What is there not to like about this?"
Diana W
Diana W
"I learned how to lay a hedge in college, there’s nothing better for wildlife, animals and plants , flooding and biodiversity."
Amanda J
Amanda J
"We need all the hedgerows we can get. Homes for birds, mammals insects...act as windbreaks, secure fencing...please can we restore maintain these beautiful important things!!!"
Zoe H
Zoe H
"Wildlife needs our hedgerows to survive. We humans are destroying everyone’s habitat including our own. It has to stop. Just think how bereft life would be without our wildlife."
Philippa C
Philippa C
"Please protect our wildlife and plant hedgerows."
Doreen S
Doreen S
"This is a no-brainer! We need to step up and be protecting our planet as custodians for all species as well as for our own futures."
Joanne G
Joanne G
"Vital that they are better protected."
Chris C
Chris C
"I support the move to link payment with evidence that guidelines have been followed. It also benefits wildlife to leave alternate sections uncut as this creates nesting territories and disrupts predator flight paths."
Steven T
Steven T
"Hedgerows are very important for birds and small mammals."
Susan C
Susan C
"We must do all we can to help the wildlife."
Della J
Della J
"We must compromise living alongside the wildlife as the earth is there home too."
Sarah D
Sarah D
"Many animals and birds are in a steep decline or near extinction because their natural habitat is being destroyed."
Victoria J
Victoria J
Many of the hedgerows here are on stone walled banks and have been cut so low that they are practically non existent. This is nothing to do with road safety or pedestrians etc as it's in areas which are set well back from roads. It is just our 'tidy' freakery which totally ignores our struggling natural environment."
Karen R
Karen R
"Please manage hedgerows correctly to provide food and shelter for wildlife particularly birds most dependent on berries for food."
Vivien F
Vivien F
"We need to do something now, before it's too late!"
Andrew and Sue
Andrew and Sue
"I want to support the protection of hedgerows which are an essential part of environmental habitats for wildlife. As we humans encroach more and more on the landscape, hedgerows form a natural protective home for wildlife, and this wildlife is essential to our race surviving- we are, after all, simply part of a chain."
Gillian F-G
Gillian F-G
"Hedges are important wildlife corridors, and carbon sinks."
Nick C
Nick C
"Let's hope we can put a stop to this."
Christine K
Christine K
"signed"
Liz S
Liz S
"I am heartbroken at the steady destruction of our natural world . Don’t people realise that it will end with the destruction of ourselves because we too are part of it?"
Julia M
Julia M
"It is so good to see hedgerows returning locally, just wish they be allowed to do what nature intended."
Jean B
Jean B
"Its just greed so they don't have to cut again thats why they cut so viciously with stupid machines... the greedy have taken over the earth we need to take it back. These so called humans l use the word lightly are destroying this planet. They wont be here so they don't care. This world is so unfair to all the other species that try to live on this planet because of one species that is messing it up for all due to greed and power."
Lori S
Lori S
"Annual cutting is totally unnecessary and a waste of resources for the farmer. Most hedges are relentlessly cut as soon as they can be in the autumn . One local farmer always starts cutting in the early hours of September 1st (cutting hedge during the night) subsequently never any flowers or fruit on the hedges and they are being progressively weakened as they are hit harder each year.
Improving hedges is an easy win for biodiversity and a PR win for any farmer."
Jerry K
Improving hedges is an easy win for biodiversity and a PR win for any farmer."
Jerry K
"Please save these ancient boundaries and protect them from unscrupulous development."
David S
David S
"I value our Beautiful countryside and would be devastated should anything harm or destroy any part of it. I consider myself privileged to live here."
Chrissie T
Chrissie T
"I am concerned that nesting birds are disturbed."
Kathleen H
Kathleen H
"We must protect wildlife!"
Sue H
Sue H
"Look after our wildlife."
Julie P
Julie P
"Very sad."
William K
William K
I've lived here for over 30 years and seen the vast stretches of hedges on neighbouring farms grubbed out with those left so savagely cut back it's like a green desert, devoid of birds. On our property of 7 acres of formerly bare field we have planted trees, hedges that are native mix, several metres deep and only lightly trimmed. Our little area is a haven loud with birdsong. having bird friendly habitat makes a huge difference!"
Ann H
Ann H
"I'm aware that hedges that block essential signposts and make driving/walking/cycling difficult and sometimes dangerous need to be trimmed, but those on wider roads or roads with verges should not be butchered by huge mechanical wood slashers if it can be avoided."
Carol M
Carol M
"Seems to me if people are not reading or aware of guidelines re trimming a more diverse approach to education about maintainance is needed - as well as legislation to protect hedgerows. Development often turns a field/hedge boundary into someones garden perimeter and then it looses its protected status-old hedgerows need to be protected for wildlife and biodiversity not ripped out for convenience at the whim of new houseowners, regardless!"
Heth W
Heth W
"Barren hedges provide nothing. Stop annual cutting!"
Nicholas P
Nicholas P
"Definitely needed to help protect the wildlife."
Gillian B
Gillian B
"Preserve our hedgerows."
Karen M
Karen M
"Great cause."
Susan G
Susan G
"Stop cutting back/down hedgerows and stop mowing verges, instead plant to feed birds, butterflies and bees!"
Shelley H
Shelley H
"Stop cutting down hedgerows... They maybe smaller than trees but some are just as ancient and all are just as important for wildlife. HS2 is destroying hundreds of miles of hedgerows and developers and farmers are able to cut them down with impunity."
Sally B
Sally B
"Hedges are totally essential!"
Peter L
Peter L
"Please add me to mailing list . Hate seeing these hedges stripped and bare. No shelter and protection for birds and animals.
Di T
Di T
"This has to be and immediate effect our wildlife needs our help NOW... not tomorrow or next week but NOW."
William M
William M
"If a switch is made to a 3+ year cycle it will not only hugely befit all manner of wildlife, it will also save the councils money which is far more likely to be an argument they will listen to."
John B
John B
"Hedgerows provided a vital source of shelter to many birds & creatures. We need to maintain them in such a way as to encourage wildlife, not destroy it."
Hazel F
Hazel F
"I agree let the hedges be refuges for wild life."
Keith J
Keith J
"Save your own life by saving the beautiful nature surrounding you."
Tania F
Tania F
"Great idea."
Tristan H
Tristan H
"Please protect our rural environment."
Josanne B
Josanne B
"No wonder we have ever-reducing wildlife! SO ignorant! Without the pollinators of our countryside, the food chain, production and so farming itself, will fail and grind to a halt!! The world will starve!!"
Sandy M
Sandy M
"Hedgerows and the arterial communication of the country side, all too often we see these incredibly diverse habitat grubbed up in the name of efficiency by the very people who would have us believe that they are safeguarding the countryside for us.!!"
Kevin H
Kevin H
"I still remember the hedgerows from my childhood. Such a source of bio diversity and beauty. And then they suddenly disappeared more and more."
Hanna M
Hanna M
"Please, please save our hedgerows before we lose all our hedge nesting birds."
Jackie M
Jackie M
"Protect our wildlife!"
Dorothy L
Dorothy L
"Appalled by the destruction of the Hedgerows here. How do farmers get away with it?"
Jenny B
Jenny B
"It's a disgrace that so many hedges are being torn out, not only for birds and wildlife but also for soil erosion."
Lea M
Lea M
"Defending Hedgerows is of critical importance to our native wildlife. Hedgerows provide specialised habitat for birds, mammals and invertebrates etc. Moreover, provide corridors for wildlife to travel between copses."
Michelle J
Michelle J
"Keep the hedgerows for nature."
Rebecca D
Rebecca D
"Please, please let's get back to respecting wildlife. They also have a right to homes. Where has our "human kindness" gone?"
Elinor D
Elinor D
"Our wildlife need cover & the food hedges give."
Jay-Shelley H
Jay-Shelley H
"The importance of hedgerows far outweighs the need for ‘tidy’ hedges and deprives many important creatures of not only safe cover but food and homes."
Anna B
Anna B
"Hedgerows are a vital habitat and we need to protect them."
Anne T
Anne T
"Please protect our hedgerows. Please educate landowners and contractors and prevent further unnecessary destruction of these important habitats. Please provide legislative guidance which will protect wildlife."
Jennie M
Jennie M
"The deliberate destruction of the hedges has to stop, and a proper rotation of 3 year cuts should be followed."
Richard O
Richard O
"Please make it illegal to cut back hedges every year. They then do nothing to promote and encourage wildlife."
Elizabeth B
Elizabeth B
"I would like to see hedgerows protected in the same way trees are. Limitation & strict guidelines when they can be cut back! Thanks for this initiative."
Jennie F
Jennie F
"Protect hedgerows, crucial habitat."
Manuelle P
Manuelle P
"Essential for wildlife!"
Ruth B
Ruth B
"Hi I would like to get in touch about a UK wide campaign to stop councils as well as land owners destroying hedges for no reason."
Kirsten W
Kirsten W
"Great to see an article on hedgerows, refreshing in fact. To be realistic there isn’t much protection for nature full stop. We live in France and we are lucky our residence is about 60 years old and has a lot of original hedging. We have a pair of Sardinian Warblers nesting every spring in a 4ft wide, dense hedge just below our kitchen window. My wife is on the gardening committee and they are very cautious not to trim in breeding season , and the base of the hedges are rarely touched . Keep up the great work."
John G.
John G.
"Hedges can be a time consuming pain in the butt.
However, they will outlast any fence and be a haven for wildlife.
Fences need regular maintenance and that can be just as time consuming. They are not a fit and forget item."
Alan K.
However, they will outlast any fence and be a haven for wildlife.
Fences need regular maintenance and that can be just as time consuming. They are not a fit and forget item."
Alan K.
"Lovely to see such an organisation - there is a big fashion for rewilding and planting hedgerows, but they all seem for the benefit of humans and their modern day tidy aesthetic. No one would dream of planting bramble which is so beneficial for our small birds. When I was a child walking down the streets in London, nearly every house had an impenetrable hedge in their front garden; either privet or hawthorn. Walking past them was a deafening experience, with loud explosions of birdsong. Now walking along streets, there’s not any homes protected by hedges anymore, and those that are, have replaced privet and Hawthorn for the dreaded box (thank heaven for the box moth) let’s think about nature when planting a hedge or a wild garden and not ourselves. We could get as much pleasure from the so called ugly plants, if we learn to appreciate them and what they do."
David H.
David H.
"Where I live all the hedges are cut down to nothing.It is almost as though the council just want everything dead. What sense does that make."
Alison J.
Alison J.
"Hedgerows are really good things they protect homes are made in them and they stop silly people going where they shouldn’t."
Susan G.
Susan G.
"I love finding ancient hedges with a variety of tree and bush species. This is getting harder ! The flailing is barbarous and removes so much of the cover birds and small mammals need to survive the winter. There must be a compromise?"
Suzy C.
Suzy C.
"I admit to guerrilla planting winter flowering jasmine in hedge gaps at night-time. The insects love it and so far no farmer has ripped them out. They seem to survive the slashing."
Frances S.
Frances S.
"I’m sure I read that the law had changed and farmers were no longer required to even keep hedgerows any more. A farmer near me has put in a planning application to remove 153 metres of hedgerow to facilitate better management of fields. I’d like to do more to protect windbreaks and hedging, but the rules about what is a protected hedge and what isn’t seem so complicated. Measuring the hedge, does it have certain species or mix of species etc. I’d like to be better informed."
Carol G.
Carol G.
"One of a great many issues that needs to be addressed in the country side, sooner rather than later."
Carl D
Carl D
"Would like to help"
Janet C.
Janet C.
"Hedgerows had an economic purpose but also created a fantastically important network & resource for thousands of species. Modern farming looks at the economics but ignores the underlying needs of biodiversity which we all rely on. Farmers’ costs go up. Machines cut through in uniform & destructive fashion. It will take government action to rescue the current ecological disaster: policy, legal protection, subsidy, encouragement & education."
Griselda M.
Griselda M.
