Mentions:
1: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) Indeed, the issue is the very presence of grey squirrels; grey squirrels are the Hamas of the squirrel - Speech Link
2: Virginia Crosbie (Con - Ynys Môn) They prey on squirrels and, because grey squirrels are slower, larger, more populous and spend more time - Speech Link
3: Trudy Harrison (Con - Copeland) Yet, it is fatal for red squirrels. - Speech Link
4: Rebecca Pow (Con - Taunton Deane) red squirrels for food. - Speech Link
Jan. 19 2024
Source Page: Surge in red squirrels spotted on Scottish defence training estateFound: Surge in red squirrels spotted on Scottish defence training estate
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet the Species Reintroduction Taskforce to discuss ongoing work to increase the number of red squirrels in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is committed to working closely with the England Species Reintroductions Taskforce to help it achieve its objective to realise the full benefits of species conservation translocations for nature recovery and society. To do so, Defra attends Taskforce meetings as an observer. The Taskforce is committed to developing and publishing materials to better understand the risks and benefits of species translocations. Defra will engage with the Taskforce on the applicability of these outputs to Defra’s priorities, whether on red squirrels or any other species, once they are produced.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the conservation of the red squirrel population in (a) general and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government remains committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species and has set a world-leading target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. Defra, Natural England and the Forestry Commission are signatories to the UK Squirrel Accord which aims to protect, identify and strengthen existing red squirrel populations, expand their current range, and promote better understanding and support for their conservation.
Under the Countryside Stewardship scheme, financial support is available for farmers, foresters and land managers to support the recovery of red squirrels, such as funding for the management of grey squirrels. Conservation of the species is targeted to red squirrel stronghold areas in the north of England.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking steps to control the number of grey squirrels; whether she is using technology to (a) assess and (b) control the numbers of grey squirrels; and whether she has had discussions with the Welsh Government on implementing a UK-wide strategy on the control of grey squirrels.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The management of grey squirrel populations is a devolved matter.
In England, Defra is committed to doing more to tackle the impact of grey squirrels by updating the Grey Squirrel Action Plan. The Grey Squirrel Management Action Plan for Wales and the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels project include similar management objectives. A refreshed GB Invasive Non-Native Species Strategy was published this year, setting out the high-level vision and key actions for invasive species management in England, Scotland, and Wales. The Forestry Commission works informally with colleagues in Natural Resources Wales and Welsh government to facilitate a common approach where possible.
Defra contributes funding to innovative fertility control research led by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the UK Squirrel Accord, a UK-wide partnership that includes the Welsh and Scottish governments as well as Defra. If successful, this novel management method will complement the actions set out at the level of individual governments, such as maintaining the grey squirrel eradication that partners have carried out on Anglesey.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a target for the phased reduction of the grey squirrel population in the next five years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As well as being a threat to the native red squirrel, the grey squirrel poses a severe challenge to the sustainable management of woodlands in England.
In the Environmental Improvement Plan we committed to do more to tackle the impacts of grey squirrels on our trees, woodlands and red squirrel population by updating the Grey Squirrel Action Plan, embedding grey squirrel management into woodland and farming schemes, and encouraging public bodies and adjacent landowners to work together to manage grey squirrel populations, where appropriate.
Countryside Stewardship funding is now available for grey squirrel management. We have also provided funding to the UK Squirrel Accord, including for work on an innovative grey squirrel immunocontraceptive.
The updated Grey Squirrel Action Plan will build on existing support delivered through the Forestry Commission and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, setting out the additional actions Government will take to combat grey squirrels.
These actions are all aimed at reducing the pressures of grey squirrels on the environment and industry, through population reduction. Our objectives are to support red squirrel conservation and to reduce damage to trees and it is better to target our action to achieve those goals.
Mentions:
1: Lord Robathan (Con - Life peer) As for grey squirrels, I plant a lot of trees, and in one wood, a third of the trees have been killed - Speech Link
2: Lord Douglas-Miller (Con - Life peer) Through Countryside Stewardship we already pay for actions to manage deer and grey squirrels to protect - Speech Link
3: Lord Robathan (Con - Life peer) We have mentioned squirrels, mink and magpies. - Speech Link
Sep. 11 2023
Source Page: Grey squirrel and deer damage to trees: Visual guideFound: and deer damage to trees: Visual guide A guide to help identify tree damage by deer and grey squirrels
Sep. 11 2023
Source Page: Grey squirrel and deer damage to trees: Visual guideFound: Grey squirrel and deer damage to trees: Visual guide How to spot tree damage by deer and grey squirrels
Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Scottish Wildlife Trust publication, Saving an icon: Final report from the Developing Community Action Phase of Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, published in April 2023, and whether it will consider reconvening the Scottish Squirrel Group to revise the national strategy for red squirrel conservation.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Minister for Energy and the Environment
The Scottish Government fully appreciates the work being undertaken and the progress made through the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels project to protect and expand populations. It is particularly encouraging to see the partnership approach that has been undertaken by a number of individuals, communities and landowners who have volunteered their time to make a significant contribution to help protect Scotland’s red squirrels. This project has demonstrated that a mix of voluntary and funded action can provide a sustainable long term future for this much-loved species.
NatureScot remains committed to ensuring the important work undertaken by Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels continues, and has provided funding for a two-year transition since the Developing Community Action Phase of the project ended in April 2022.
The Scottish Squirrel Group will be reconvened this autumn to begin revising the Scottish Strategy for Red Squirrel Conservation, which was last updated in 2015.