Photo: Jamie Edmonds

The Pennon Environmental Fund (PEF) has donated £3,000 to the Westcountry Rivers Trust to support the work of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species in Devon and Cornwall.

Every eight years, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species runs a national project called the Great Nut Hunt, encouraging volunteers to look for the carefully nibbled nuts that indicate dormice are living nearby.

This winter, the PEF grant, in association with the Westcountry Rivers Trust, Cornwall Mammal Group and the Devon Wildlife Trust, is being used to train volunteers to become ‘nutters’ in Devon and Cornwall. The nutters will record evidence of areas where dormice are present as part of this year’s Great Nut Hunt.

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Chris Packham agrees dormice are “ultra-cute”

Who would have thought a cuddly little creature like the dormouse could stir up such a debate?

At a time when conservation groups – including the Devon Wildlife Trust – are investing effort and money into assessing dormouse numbers and providing the perfect habitat for them – BBC Autumnwatch presenter Chris Packham has suggested they are not deserving of all the attention.

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The elusive hazel dormouse spends most of its life asleep

A conservation charity has urged the public to scour woodlands for half-eaten hazelnuts to help track down and record the whereabouts of the elusive, endangered dormouse.

It is one of the glories of the British autumn – a walk in the woodland.

The deep scent of moss and damp soil, the dappled light, and of course the colours of the leaves, from burnt raspberry to caramel to the palest gold.

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A farmer who connected up dormouse friendly countryside has won an award for his efforts from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species.

A Welsh landowner who connected up the longest stretch of dormouse friendly habitat (495 acres in total) has won the Reconnecting the Countryside award, organised by the conservation charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). Keith Allen from Trellech, Monmouthshire, triumphed because, say the judges, he ‘demonstrated a clear vision for the wider landscape’, including planting 138 hazel trees on neighbouring land and 45 on his own to form dormouse-friendly hedgerows.

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