We’re all feeling the effects of warmer winters and shifting weather patterns. For species already experiencing dramatic declines – how many hibernations do they have left?

The impact of climate change and habitat loss have left some of our most threatened hibernators vulnerable to the challenges of increasingly unseasonable weather.

It’s vital that hibernators can find enough food to build up reserves before winter and to replenish them as soon as they wake up in spring.

The dramatic decline in dormice, our local hibernators, is emblematic of habitat loss and climate change.

Hibernating animals should be safely tucked away by October to November, but unseasonably warm weather can cause them to enter hibernation later; stir from their slumber too frequently; or emerge too early.

Loss of woodland and hedgerows has left our hibernators’ traditional habitat fragmented. Insects, flowers and fruit that animals rely on to survive through their hibernation can be harder to find.

This leaves our hibernators isolated, vulnerable, and struggling to adapt to the further challenges of our increasingly extreme weather.

We know that conservation action can reverse biodiversity loss, so we must act now to create a wilder future that can stand up to the challenges of the climate crisis. We have a chance to take action to support hibernators with the food and shelter they rely on.

The woodland we manage in Avon can offer safe homes for dormice, hedgehogs and bats. We want to go further to improve and connect natural habitat across our region to put these species on the path to recovery.

You can support the creation of sunlit woodlands that provide aerial homes for bats, a flourishing ‘understorey’ which gives dormice safe passage above the ground, and the natural larder of fruits, flowers, insects and nuts that they all need to break their long winter fast with.

Please donate today to build a wilder future for our hibernators to wake up to. Thank you.