The project:
Feeders that only red squirrels can access, cameras and habitat improvement will be the cornerstones of the red squirrel conservation strategy devised by the National Trust, in conjunction with Banrock Station.
With the help of the local community in north-east England – where the red squirrel populations are still holding out – the National Trust hopes to monitor numbers, and place the feeders where they can be most useful. Cameras will feed images of the squirrels through to visitor centres, where people will be able to enjoy spotting this native species, still very much under threat from the invading grey squirrels. This summer, the National Trust hopes to install trial feeders with cameras and then study the results, and assess the impact.
If this project wins the higher funding from Banrock Station:
The National Trust would extend its research on Brownsea Island, in Poole harbour, Dorset, where habitat improvement has included cutting down and burning a whole swath of invasive rhododendron bushes, and allowing pines to grow in their place. As a result, the red squirrel population has risen by 25% in the last decade, and the National Trust is keen to carry out an annual census with the help of local volunteers, so that it can observe this population closely, and then take the lessons they've learned here to other sites in the country.
Red squirrel facts:
Red coat and a white chest
Live in nests (dreys) built in the forks of trees
Over half of the UK's red squirrel population live in Scotland. Red squirrels also can be found in Northern Ireland, in small pockets in Wales and the north of England, and islands such as Brownsea, the Isle of Wight, where the sea has protected them from incursion by the greys
What the experts say:
Around the country, the grey squirrel continues to move into red squirrel territory. "The problem stems from the squirrel pox virus that the grey squirrels carry," explains National Trust ecologist Simon Ford. "It's not fatal to them, but it is fatal to the red squirrels. It's like the Inuit and the common cold. So, in some parts of the country, around Mersey and the Lake District for example, the greys are slowly encroaching, and wiping out the red squirrels as they come. And the problem is, of course, that they then also have a big impact on bird populations – they will take nesting birds – and on woodland management, because they strip the bark from trees.
"That's why Brownsea Island is so unique. There are no cats or dogs or foxes, so the red squirrels just run along the ground. You can virtually guarantee that you will see one. It's very special."
