BRITAIN'S first major refuge for red squirrels has been created at Thirlmere, in the Lake District, in a bid to save these endearing creatures from extinction.
Through management of the planting and felling of woodland over a wide area the pilot site is intended to encourage a population of red squirrels - this country's only native squirrel. There are now fewer than 160,000 red squirrels in Britain, with most in Scotland, and some conservationists fear that they may disappear from England by 2010. Only a few red squirrel colonies survive in southern England. Numbers are better in the north but their contracting range is causing concern.
Thirlmere, between Keswick and Grasmere, was chosen for the pilot refuge because it has a large amount of mixed conifer plantation, which, with its profusion of cone seeds, is one of the red squirrel's favourite habitats. There are also relatively few grey squirrels around Thirlmere because they rarely venture into the dense conifer woodland in order to forage.
Priority has been given to growing small-seeded broadleaf trees, such as birch and alder. There are fewer large-seeded broadleaf trees - such as beech and oak - being grown as these encourage grey squirrels, which are better at digesting acorns than the reds. The pilot refuge, launched in September, has been organised by NPI Red Alert North West, an initiative sponsored by the NPI pensions company. And conservationists are working closely with North West Water, which owns the land around Thirlmere.
Corrie Bruemmer, the project officer for NPI Red Alert North West, said: "This is a major scheme to help red squirrels in the Lake District and we want to encourage them back mainly through woodland management with the co-operation of local landowners. But we won't be forgetting about those red squirrels outside the refuge sites, and we will be putting in a great deal of effort into conserving all of them."
Indeed, NPI Red Alert has already installed rope bridges across roads in the Lake District for the squirrels' safety, as well as providing specially adapted food hoppers. After working on the Thirlmere pilot, NPI Red Alert is to set up other refuges, possibly including one around Garsdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where red squirrels are starting to return.
Farmers and residents there have reported red squirrels in some areas for the first time in more than 20 years after rival grey squirrels have been controlled. Once greys have entered an area, reds (Sciurus vulgaris) rarely survive longer than 15 years. Greys breed rapidly, with two litters a year, and are better able to survive a severe winter because of their extra body fat.
The Very Reverend Ingram Cleasby, a former Dean at Chester Cathedral and now a red squirrel activist in the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: "In Garsdale, there is constant pressure from greys lower down the valleys pushing upwards into the dales. As we control them in one area, others move in. But there's now a chance the reds will flourish if we can control enough of the greys."
Teams around Garsdale have recorded regular sightings of red squirrels in five main areas, particularly along river margins. Grey squirrels, first introduced from North America in 1876 where they are well-adapted to utilising mixed and deciduous forest food, pose no physical threat and there is no evidence that they chase out reds. However, it is possible that the greys carry a lethal virus.
Conservationists in Garsdale claim that the increase in red squirrels could be the result of maturing conifers first planted in the area about 30 years ago, as well as leaving out food hoppers.