New red squirrel map reveals they are more widespread than thought

Red squirrels are more widespread than thought. Photo courtesy of Paige Dickens

July 2012. Over 1200 hours of work by volunteers and staff this spring has created a new picture of the native red squirrels' current geographical range in northern England.

239 woodlands visited
‘Red Army' volunteers and staff from the Red Squirrels Northern England (RSNE) conservation partnership visited 239 woodlands across Northumberland, Cumbria, Merseyside, Durham and North Yorkshire to establish exactly which species of squirrels are now living in them.

New maps now show that red squirrels are still living in woodlands right across Cumbria and Northumberland, well beyond identified strongholds such as Kielder Forest, plus, red squirrels are still also present in the Yorkshire Dales, the Sefton coast in Merseyside and County Durham.

Red squirrels found in 113 woodlands
Red squirrels were found in 113 of the 239 woodlands systematically surveyed and are still present across five northern English counties; additional sightings from trained volunteers and members of the public from the same time period have also been incorporated to build an even more complete picture of red squirrel distribution.

Grey squirrels
The main conservation threat to red squirrels in England comes from the competition and disease problems caused by non-native grey squirrels. Grey squirrels were detected in 34 % of woodlands surveyed, a sobering reminder of the conservation challenge red squirrels continue to face. RSNE is working alongside land managers and volunteer groups across northern England to undertake grey squirrel control in areas which are important to red squirrels.

The information gathered in this study now forms an important baseline against which the success of increasing red squirrel conservation efforts can be measured. The monitoring programme will be repeated this autumn and bi-annually in future years. It is hoped that repeated monitoring will show the maintenance and expansion of red squirrel range in northern England over time, giving all those contributing to red squirrel conservation a fantastic boost.

Adam Seward, RSNE Research Officer and co-ordinator of the monitoring project said: "We are grateful to all supporters of this enormous survey. The results will provide a vital benchmark against which to measure changes in squirrel species range in future years."

The main funder of this spring's monitoring project is Hexham based EGGER UK Ltd.

Red squirrel distribution map