‘Healthy Hedgerows’ app launched to help farmers, hedgerows and wildlife

People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) have launched a brand-new ‘Healthy Hedgerows’ app, aimed at farmers and land managers that want to make – or adjust – their hedgerow management plans to grow the healthiest of hedges. 

Healthy Hedgerows offers free rapid assessments to help make understanding the hedgerow lifecycle easy. With just six easy questions, it’s quick and simple to use, giving instant management advice for each hedge surveyed.

Designed for farmers, landowners and land managers, this free app enables users to find out where hedges are within their natural lifecycle and offers instant feedback on how they can be best managed to ensure their continued health.

Megan Gimber, Key Habitats Project Officer at PTES, explains: “The quality and structure of hedgerows will deteriorate if they’re managed in the same way for long periods of time, and over time they will eventually be lost. Managing hedgerows according to their lifecycle is the only way to keep them healthy in the long term,  which may include more sensitive trimming, periods of non-intervention and, in time, rejuvenation.”

“Whatever condition a hedge is in, it can be brought back to good health. Our new app pinpoints where it is in its lifecycle and the best management options to adopt to get the most benefit for the farm and its precious wildlife.”

To download the app for free, visit the Apple Store or Google Play and search for Healthy Hedgerows. For those who can’t download the app, more information is available online: hedgerowsurvey.ptes.org/healthy-hedgerows-survey.

The app is part of the ‘Close the Gap’ project, focused on achieving bigger, healthier, better-connected hedgerows. It is funded by the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund and is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.