News: ‘Booster’ project will protect Scotland’s red squirrels for another two years

online as part of September’s third annual ‘Great Scottish Squirrel Survey’ campaign. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and includes NatureScot, Scottish Forestry, Scottish Land & Estates, RSPB Scotland and the Red Squirrel Survival Trust. In 2017 the project was awarded £2.46 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project has… […]

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To feed or not to feed?

Original Author: Alexa Seagrave   We often get asked about feeding red squirrels, and the very best thing you can do is make your garden as wildlife friendly as possible.   Planting native shrubs and small trees for berries and nuts will provide the best natural food for free and give the best nutrition. So get out there and plant… […]

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Join the Hub

…to protect local red squirrel populations. Registered users can keep track of their squirrel sightings, and join a local red squirrel network to connect with others in your area. Once you have become a Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels volunteer you’ll also be able to use the Hub to access training resources and materials and submit and view your data online…. […]

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Community action in Galloway

…how widespread grey squirrels had become. For the previous 25 years, my wife and I had been living on the edge of a Scots pine forest near Hexham in Northumberland, where for a long period we had plenty of reds visiting our garden. We even organised aerial ropeways to feeders on our window frames, giving us even closer views! Then… […]

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News: Help stop the spread of grey squirrels in the Mearns

…highly invasive grey squirrel could also spread further into the Grampians and the Highlands, threatening Scotland’s largest populations of red squirrels. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is encouraging people to report sightings of both red and grey squirrels online. The project is also looking for volunteers in the area to support its vital conservation work. Sarah Woodfin, Monitoring Officer, North East… […]

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Reviewing the Scottish Strategy for Red Squirrel Conservation

…conservation measures such as grey squirrel control, disease surveillance, habitat management and impacts of land use. The timeline for developing the Strategy is to submit the first draft to Nature Scot by early 2025. The Scottish Squirrel Group has already kicked started the process with a series of online workshops held throughout February to establish the most up to date… […]

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Red squirrels and biosecurity

…the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels project to reduce the risk of squirrelpox spread.   Biosecurity is big news at present due to our concerns about the new Coronavirus in humans. In Britain, another virus, spread between squirrel species has proven invariably lethal to its new host – the native red squirrel. Squirrelpox is a pox virus with many of the… […]

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Knowledge Fair – celebrating five years of community action

  In December over 100 SSRS volunteers, landowners and other supporters joined us online to celebrate the end of the project’s ‘Developing Community Action‘ phase. The two-day Knowledge Fair featured presentations and panel discussions on all that the project has achieved over the past five years. It was also an opportunity to learn more about the red squirrel conservation work… […]

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News: Red letter day – Plean’s first red squirrel entered home through letterbox

website, scottishsquirrels.org.uk. The data helps the project monitor population changes over time and decide where to focus conservation efforts. Mary-Anne added: “It’s incredibly exciting that red squirrels appear to be making a comeback in Plean and other parts of Stirlingshire, but we’d like to see more evidence. Everyone can help by keeping an eye out and reporting their sightings online.”… […]

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This Year's Sightings