LIFE14 NAT/UK/000467 National red squirrel project launched

An EU funded and National Lottery Sciurus Life project is launched that will enable local communities across the north of England and Wales to become involved in conserving the red squirrel. The Sciurius Life project aims are to:

  • Develop mechanisms to prevent the unintentional introduction of grey squirrels to currently uncolonised woodland landscapes;
  • Develop early warning/rapid response mechanisms to ensure the island of Anglesey in North Wales is not recolonised;
  • Develop rapid response mechanisms to mitigate the impacts of grey squirrels in urban woodlands with high biodiversity and tourism value;
  • Develop early warning systems to detect grey squirrels in sparsely populated rural landscapes;
  • Develop more efficient strategic mechanisms to evolve community-based grey squirrel management;
  • Quantify the financial and community-based resources needed to achieve regional eradication;
  • Share knowledge gained across the EU;
  • Use knowledge exchange and trust building processes to aid the development of a broader invasive alien species management;
  • Test the impact of measures to increase public awareness and community capacity associated with grey squirrel management;
  • Inform the development of a long-term management framework for grey squirrels in the UK.

The project will run until December 2019. Further information and a full list of partners can be found at: SciuriousLIFE and Red Squirrels Trust Wales.

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