KUHoglets ‘Going for Gold’ in the Hedgehog Friendly Campus initiative

KUHoglets have announced that they are aiming for a Gold Accreditation in the Hedgehog Friendly Campus scheme.

The KUHoglets team, who are part of the Kingston University Biodiversity Action Group, achieved a Silver Accreditation earlier this month for their efforts to make KU campuses more hedgehog friendly.

Hedgehog Friendly Campus is a UK-wide award scheme funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

The scheme encourages teams of staff and students at schools and universities to apply hedgehog-friendly actions on their campuses.

Since 2020, when the group was first set up, the KUHoglets have been implementing these actions on Kingston University campuses.

Some of the work they have done includes litter picking, hedgehog first aid training, working to reduce unnecessary rodenticide and hosting hedgehog talks at the Kingston Biodiversity Network Meeting.

The group’s main focus over the past two years has been around litter and trying to educate people about the impact littering can have on wildlife.

“It seems to be one of the banes of human existence that we seem to be programmed to be lazy about getting rid of our waste properly,” wrote Sivi Sivanesan, KU’s Biodiversity and Landscape Manager, in a blog post.

The group have also been doing some fundraising, donating the money raised to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

KUHoglets is made up of staff, students and external members of the Kingston community.

Sivanesan said: “A lot of the students who were a core part of the group in 2020 and 2021 have graduated now. So at the moment we are recruiting again this year to help bolster the team.”

KU students can get involved in with KUHoglets and wider Biodiversity work in Kingston by contacting biodiversity@kingston.ac.uk