Nest boxes installed around the Stroud Valley to help dormice

The number of hazel dormice has plummeted by 72% in the last 20 years. They depend on carefully managed woodland and hedgerows, but these special habitats are in decline and hazel dormice are at risk of dying out unless urgent action is taken.

Stroud is one of the few areas of Gloucestershire where dormice are found and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has started work at its Laurie Lee Woods nature reserve to create an ideal environment for hazel dormice.

Nest boxes are being installed and woodland management tasks are being carried out by staff and volunteers.

This work has been made possible thanks to support from Grundon Waste Management and donations from members of the public.

The charity is aiming to raise £30,000 to help protect hazel dormice throughout the county.

“Thank you to everyone who has donated to our appeal so far. The generous support of people who care about wildlife means that we have been able to increase the work that we are doing,” said Alan Sumnall, GWT’s Reserves Manager for the Stroud Valleys.

“However, we urgently need more money so we can provide the varied habitat that hazel dormice need, which will involve coppicing more woodland and planting hedgerows.”

Work must take place this winter, while the dormice are hibernating and before they start searching for food – such as blossom, nectar, and flowers – in the spring.

To donate to the Dormice in Danger appeal and to find out more about the charity’s work in the places where dormice live, visit gloucestershirewildlifetrust/dormice.

Over two decades, family business Grundon Waste Management, which diverts waste from landfill for recycling, has donated more than £2 million to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

The company kick-started GWT’s successful campaign to purchase Laurie Lee Woods in 2013 and has kindly promised to match fund the Dormice in Danger appeal, so for every £1 donated by members of the public, the company will match it, up to £15,000.