Write to your MP in defence of good hedgerow management - (Scroll on for a copy-and-paste template) Talk to friends - they need to know what's going on! Write to Wildlife Trusts, countryside charities, programme producers.... Make some noise about this. The rural landscape has been butchered into silence.
We need you to add your voice, with pictures you have taken if possible. Send this letter (or your version thereof) to your MP who can be found via the link given in the signature space below and at the base of this page:
Writing with concern regarding maintenance and management of hedgerows in the UK, I am anxious that populations of wildlife continue to diminish drastically, particularly songbirds, insects and small mammals. Cutting to the same height each year perpetually removes forage, winter cover, and nesting/hibernation sites. You have doubtless seen the result in driving around the countryside.
Facing a biodiversity crisis in one of the world's most nature-depleted countries, we cannot afford to allow the situation to continue.
Natural England, Hedgelink, Science Direct, Agricology and CPRE clearly advise that hedges be permitted to retain growth from the previous season in order to flower and fruit, and that to this effect they are preferably cut in rotational cycles to remain sustainable as wildlife habitat and carbon absorbers. They publicly warn against overcutting with tractor-driven machinery.
Landowners are free to cut hedgerows as they see fit while claiming substantial 'greening practice' subsidies from the public purse under 'hedgerow management'. As your constituent, I find this unacceptable.
Standing by any action you may take in securing a future for the hedgerow environment, I urgently seek your assurance that the evidenced declines in wildlife and loss of carbon filter resulting from this destructive trend is worthy of your immediate attention.
Please respond to this letter, and help to introduce policies protecting against the annual devastation of rural habitat before population losses reach the point of cascade failure.