All things invasive with the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative

because they thrive in the new environment into which they’ve been introduced and, in doing so, impact on and disrupt the delicate balance of that natural ecosystem. Their impacts can be large and obvious, like the presence of a stand of Japanese knotweed, or subtle like the reduction in invertebrate biodiversity in a river when the banks are dominated by… […]

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Southern Uplands Partnership Guest Blog: Funding Success for Red Squirrel Recovery Network

…over £250,000 are assessed in two rounds. Red Squirrel recovery Network has initially been granted round one development funding of £158,600 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans. Detailed proposals are then considered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund at second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding award. As… […]

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Join the community: introducing our new website

…biggest aims is to build networks of volunteers in local communities, with a particular focus on our priority areas in South Scotland. With the Community Hub, each group has their own online space to share information between members and keep track of the collective impact of their efforts. To find out if there is a red squirrel network near you,… […]

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Great Scottish Squirrel Survey

…busily gather food, preparing themselves for the colder months ahead. By taking part you’ll be doing a small act to help protect one of Scotland’s most iconic yet threatened species, while joining in a mass citizen science event. When will we find out the results? Each sighting we receive is verified by a member of our team before being added… […]

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News: Over £1M in new funding awarded to aid red squirrel recovery in Scotland

…more than ever, we need nature-based solutions to the climate-nature crises. It’s projects like this that can really help to stop biodiversity loss and enable us to move towards a nature-rich, net-zero future for everyone in Scotland.” Additionally, separate limited funding from SSRS partners NatureScot and Forestry and Land Scotland has been secured to continue professional grey squirrel control in… […]

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One small step for Perthshire’s reds

…like much, but locating and intercepting the very early grey squirrel colonisers is a difficult job – needles and haystacks being an apt analogy – and your reports enable us to narrow our search. Although the risk of grey squirrel presence in the area has been reduced, we of course do not know how many grey squirrels remain in Pitlochry,… […]

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Get Involved

…Choose A Specific Appeal to ensure your donation goes toward protecting Scotland’s red squirrels. Make a donation Adopt a red squirrel Scotland’s native red squirrels need your help! Only around 120,000 remain here in the wild, and without urgent action they could be lost forever. By adopting one you will be helping to secure the future of this beautiful and… […]

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News: Record participation in national squirrel survey

…year for the species. The boom follows an exceptional beech seed crop last autumn, leading to earlier and more productive breeding this spring, and lockdown prevented the early intervention that would normally have contained this increased production. The widespread reporting of red squirrels in this survey, run in September after work resumed, gives us comfort that the red squirrel has… […]

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Scotland’s Red Squirrels

…ears, feet and genitalia. The infected squirrel is very quickly unable to feed properly, and rapidly becomes unwell. Squirrelpox is usually lethal in red squirrels within about 15 days of infection. The virus is already established in south Scotland, and is spreading northwards. It is likely that it will eventually spread through grey squirrel populations further north into the Central… […]

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This Year's Sightings