Hedgerows

Habitats

Hedgerows

Hedgerows as a habitat can punch way above their weight! When managed well, the hedgerow network acts as a transition / ‘edge’ habitat, providing features of different habitat types such as woodland, grassland and scrub. This is why they are great for so many species with varying habitat requirements. Old hedgerow trees provide valuable deadwood habitat for deadwood-dependent invertebrates. Reptiles like Grass Snakes may be found basking in sunny, south-facing hedgerow margins. Birds like Blackcaps nest in tussocky outgrowths of Bramble or Rose.

As well as the resources they provide wildlife, hedgerows act as connectivity corridors, allowing species like Hedgehogs, Dormice and Bats to move about the landscape. They are also great for people. One study found that hedgerows produce more nectar sugar per m² than any other on-farm habitat. So they’re great for pollinators, which play an important role in pollinating food crops. Among other important ecosystem functions and services, they are also great at storing carbon and preventing soil erosion.

At a regional level, the recent State of Warwickshire’s Habitats Report 2025, highlights that we have 10,377km hedgerow across the region. 99km of this is known to be species-rich hedgerow (having more than 5 woody species). The more plant species in a hedge, the better for meeting the nectar, pollen, berry and other resource requirements of wildlife throughout the year.

However, this hedgerow dataset needs updating. This is why over the last year, the Natural Capital Assessment Partnership team at Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (WkWT) have developed an online hedgerow survey form which draws on questions from the Defra hedgerow survey and People’s Trust for Endangered Species Great British Hedgerow Survey. The Wildlife Trust has been engaging closely with The South Warwickshire Action for Nature (SWAN) Network. SWAN members have received training in using the online hedgerow survey form and have since been signing up as hedgerow survey volunteers with the Trust. Surveying will get underway in full force from Spring 2026.

The data will be hugely valuable in helping to identify individual hedgerows where management can be enhanced for wildlife, for example through planting up gaps, establishing hedge trees, re-entering hedges in a periodic cycle of rejuvenation through coppicing or laying, or through extending cutting regimes so that hedges are cut every three years rather than every year. It will also help to update existing Natural Capital Assessment Partnership datasets which feed into habitat baselines for assessing the extent and location of different habitat types and monitoring habitat change. In turn, these statistics and datasets help to inform conservation strategy and action at the local and regional levels, such as Warwickshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

Community stories

Hedge Connect

Hedge Connect is a sub-group of SWAN, with members who are interested in assessing hedges for their quality and connectivity.  Their aim is to collect information on hedgerows that can contribute to the Warwickshire habitats database, support hedge owners and managers wherever they can, and identify good quality hedgerows that might become Local Wildlife Sites.

The Hedge Connect group have received training on hedgerow assessment from the Warwickshire Natural Capital Assessment Partnership (NCAP) and are happy to help others.  The NCAP team have developed a new hedgerow assessment App. which will be available for use from summer 2026.

CPRE Hedgerow Heroes

Hedgerow Heroes is a national project supporting volunteers to restore and regenerate our hedgerow networks. The project represents an opportunity for communities to mobilise at a local level, improving landscapes and making a huge difference to local environments. In 2024-25 and, taking part for the first time, CPRE Warwickshire planted and restored 1,106 metres of hedgerow across nine sites.

Despite facing snow on their first day, which was spent laying a hedge alongside one of the playing fields in Tysoe, volunteers surpassed expectations. With strong support from MPs and local organisations, CPRE Warwickshire has laid a promising foundation for continuing hedgerow work.