Urban Wildlife Corridors and Connectivity

Urban wildlife corridors connecting green spaces allow animals to move safely through cities, accessing food, mates, and seasonal resources while reducing road mortality.

Key Facts

Urban areas cover over 10% of England, creating fragmented habitat challenging for wildlife movement
Hedgehogs, foxes, and badgers travel several kilometers nightly - garden fences interrupt movement
The Wildlife Trusts' Wilder Cities program aims to create wildlife corridors through urban landscapes
Road mortality is highest where roads bisect movement corridors between wildlife habitat patches
Green infrastructure including street trees, green roofs, and verges can support movement through cities

Welfare Considerations

Wildlife corridor welfare benefits operate at both individual and population levels. Individual animals navigating fragmented urban landscapes face exhaustion, increased predation risk, and road mortality when movement is impeded. Population-level connectivity prevents inbreeding and demographic collapse in isolated fragments. Gardens are critical corridor links in urban landscapes - collective choices of thousands of private garden owners determine whether wildlife can move through cities. Simple interventions including hedgehog highways, native planting, and reduced hard surfacing collectively create functional wildlife corridors.

What You Can Do

Create a hedgehog highway in your fence and encourage neighbors to do the same
Plant native shrubs and trees providing food and movement cover for urban wildlife
Support the Wildlife Trust's Wilder Cities program creating urban habitat networks
Advocate for local planning requirements including wildlife corridor provision in urban development
Join local nature recovery network meetings to contribute to urban wildlife corridor planning