red squirrel

The Red Squirrel is one of the country's most endangered species and its numbers continue to decline at an alarming rate. The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has been at the forefront of the battle to save England's Red Squirrels for the past 15 years.

Working alongside the Cumbria Wildlife Trust and other nature conservation organisations, LWT set up Red Alert North West in 1993 to focus action on saving the Red Squirrel from extinction. This partnership has recently been broadened and we now operate under the banner of Red Alert North of England, which covers the last remaining English Red Squirrel strongholds in Merseyside, Cumbria and Northumberland. Funding of more than £1million has just been secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund and others to spread the message about the plight of the Red Squirrel and to involve the public in its conservation.

Red Squirrels remain common in North Merseyside and the Sefton Coast woodlands are the easiest place in Britain to see them - the National Trust at Formby alone gets more than 300,000 visitors a year. The population extends into the urban areas of Formby, Southport and Crosby. Small populations still survive in neighbouring West Lancashire, including Scarisbrick, Halsall and Ormskirk, and Red Squirrels are still occasionally seen as far away as Burscough and Rufford. The Liverpool population in Fazakerley may now be extinct but isolated pockets still hang on in Knowsley, St. Helens and Wigan.

The roots of the Red Squirrel's problems all stem from the spread of American Grey Squirrels which were misguidedly introduced into this country in the nineteenth century. Partly this is because Grey Squirrels actually do better in Britain's broadleaved woodlands than Reds, which are better suited to conifer forests, but it is now understood that the main issue is one of disease. Grey Squirrels carry the squirrel pox virus, which seems not to affect them but is invariably fatal to Reds. If the virus gets into a Red Squirrel colony it can be wiped out completely within a matter of weeks.

Saving the Red Squirrel, then, is all about keeping Grey Squirrels away from the last remaining populations.

With government backing, Red Alert has embarked on an ambitious programme to focus conservation efforts on protecting Red Squirrels at 16 sites in the north of England. Seven of these are in Cumbria, seven in Northumberland and one each in Yorkshire and Merseyside (the Sefton Coast pine woodlands). A 5km buffer zone has been designated around each of these Red Squirrel Refuges with the aim of eliminating all Grey Squirrels within them.

	Map of Sefton Coast Red Squirrel refuge and buffer zone (pdf. 1.33MB)
	Map of locations of Red Squirrel reserves and 5km buffer zones in Northern England (pdf. 3.545KB)

How can you help?

Join the Wildlife Trust

Join Friends of the Red Squirrel at http://www.redsquirrel.org.uk/

Become a local group member
Two local groups operate in the LWT area, based in Formby & Southport and Little Crosby. If you live locally and wish to become more involved with red squirrel conservation then please get in touch with the Wildlife Trust's Red Squirrel officer at frobertson@lancswt.org.uk or phone 0151-920 3769.

Report sightings of both Red and Grey Squirrels Before you report a sighting it is vital to check which species you have seen:

	only reds have ear tufts
	only greys have a white 'halo' of hairs around the tail
	adult reds are half the weight of a grey - 300g as opposed to 600g
	both squirrels are a similar length, but greys look larger due to their greater bulk.

Red Squirrel	Grey Squirrel

We only want sightings of grey squirrels from within the refuge and buffer zone (please check map) and sightings of red squirrels from the Lancashire Wildlife Trust region.

Once you are sure of the species and have checked the location on the map, then send your record with the species, location, six-figure grid reference or post code, where possible, and date to frobertson@lancswt.org.uk or phone 0151-920 3769.

Your sightings help us put together distribution maps and monitor the spread of Grey Squirrels.

Where to see Red Squirrels
A walk in any of the pinewoods of Formby or Ainsdale will provide sightings but the easiest viewing is at the National Trust at Formby Point link to www.nationaltrust.org.uk. However, Red Alert, in partnership with Sefton Council, intends to create another viewing site at Lifeboat Road, Formby, which should be open to the public some time in 2007.

Other related websites:

www.sefton.gov.uk
www.seftoncoast.org.uk
www.merseysidebiodiversity.org.uk
www.merseyforest.org.uk
www.english-nature.gov.uk