SEFTON COAST WOODLANDS RED SQUIRREL REFUGE AND
BUFFER ZONE LAUNCH
SEPTEMBER 10 2005
INFORMATION SHEET
HISTORY
Historically, the native red squirrel was found throughout Britain. The status of the British red
squirrel began to change from the late 19th century. This corresponds with the first
introduction of North American grey squirrel, which was brought over by collectors and
released into the countryside. By the early 1920s, entries in country journals and diaries
increasingly re-counted that red squirrels were in decline.
Throughout the 20th century, a body of evidence accumulated that allowed scientists to
understand more about the biology and habits of both the red and the introduced grey squirrel
- which was increasing in range and number. Indeed, arising from concern over its impact,
legislation was passed in the 1930s making any further introduction of grey squirrels illegal.
Despite efforts to curtail the rapidly growing grey squirrel population, such as the 1960s
bounty scheme, it was increasingly apparent that the red squirrel was undergoing a
catastrophic decline throughout Britain. By this time it was also clear that the grey squirrel
was inextricably linked to the red’s demise. In 1981, the plight of the red squirrel was
formally recognised in national legislation through The Wildlife and Countryside Act, which
made it illegal to kill, injure, take or trade wild red squirrels in Britain.
During the same period, scientists were gaining increasing insight into how the demise of the
red squirrel might be tackled in the wider countryside. Academic research began to suggest
that the red-grey interaction might differ in deciduous and coniferous woodland, with greys
seemingly at an advantage in deciduous woods, but with reds fairing better in conifers. With
these first insights into habitat use, and a decimated red squirrel population at risk of
disappearing from England altogether, the impetus for a dedicated conservation project
gained momentum.
Red Alert North West was formed in 1993 as a partnership of conservation organisations,
statutory agencies, landowners, businesses and local people that were committed to working
together to conserve the red squirrel in North West England. During much of the 1990’s Red
Alert North West received substantial sponsorship from the insurance company NPI, this
allowed the partnership to carry out red squirrel conservation work through project officers in
Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside. Local support groups of volunteers were established
throughout the region.
In 2001 NPI was bought out by an American company and the sponsorship stopped. The
project now runs through sponsorship from local companies, grant aid from statutory agencies
and through a successful membership scheme ‘Friends of the red squirrel.’
A grant through the Heritage Lottery Fund was submitted in September of this year to carry
out red squirrel conservation work across the North of England for the next three years.
STRATEGY
Major advances in the co-ordination of national conservation policy occurred in 1995 with the
publication of the Government’s Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). A response to the Rio de
Janeiro Convention on Biological Diversity, the UK BAP outlines actions needed to conserve
many threatened habitats and species throughout Britain. The red squirrel is one of the species
for which the UK and associated regional BAPs were written, and they helped to inform and
guide subsequent conservation work by statutory agencies, researchers and regional and local
conservation organisations.
During the late 1990s, however, it was becoming apparent that the emphasis upon
maintaining or enhancing all remaining red squirrel populations - of ‘trying all things in all
places’ - while desirable, was unlikely to meet with success since the magnitude of resources
required would never be available. It was therefore important to re-appraise the practical and
scientific basis of the conservation strategy in order to develop a more realistic and effective
approach.
From the 1980s, evidence had begun to suggest that large conifer blocks might be the best
places for red squirrel conservation. During the 1990s, the weight of evidence that conifers
conferred some advantage to red squirrels grew.
During the same period, the issue of squirrel pox disease was also helping to shape the
emerging red squirrel conservation strategy. Concern over the impact of the disease grew as
an increasing body of evidence indicated that areas of greatest grey squirrel density - native
woodlands - would see a high level of disease transfer to, and thus mortality of, reds. This
further reinforced the likely futility of attempting an ‘all thing in all places’ conservation
approach. Fortunately, by the late 1990s it had become clear that in some cases, even where
there was pox disease in the local grey squirrel population, reds had persisted in the presence
of greys for up to 40 years in conifer plantations. This further supported the emerging view
that focusing red squirrel conservation on conifer areas stood the best chance of success.
From this evidence and growing knowledge of red squirrel ecology the future strategy for red
squirrel conservation in England was agreed by the UK Red Squirrel Group and England
Squirrel Forum to be the designation of red squirrel refuges.
REFUGES
A red squirrel refuge is ‘an area with a minimum of 200ha of primarily conifer woodland
supporting an existing, viable population of red squirrels with a surrounding buffer zone
comprised largely of habitat that is hostile to squirrels and therefore defendable against grey
squirrel incursion.’
The Sefton Coast Woodlands have been chosen as one of 16 refuges to managed for red
squirrels in the north of England, nine of which are in the north west, this being the only one
in Merseyside/ West Lancashire.
The designation is a voluntary policy that requires the acknowledgement and endorsement of
all landowners, managers, statutory agencies and conservation bodies. The designation will
allow red squirrels to be incorporated into policy-making processes and allow Red Alert to
bid for national funds.
We hope that the national designation will give added protection and strengthen the effect that
conservation measures have on the red squirrel population of Merseyside and West
Lancashire.
LOCAL GROUPS
Two local groups ‘Little Crosby Red Alert’ and ‘Formby and Southport Red Alert’ were
formed at the inception of Red Alert North West to actively carry out red squirrel
conservation initiatives, promote Red Alert North West in the local area, fundraise and
monitor red and grey squirrels. The two local groups are both very active with many of the
members now having more than ten years of knowledge of red squirrel conservation issues.
Without these dedicated volunteers it is doubtful that red squirrels would be so successful in
our area. The designation of the area as a national red squirrel refuge and buffer zone should
re-focus and increase the interest in the work of the local groups by the local community.
RED SQUIRREL MONITORING
It is important that red squirrel populations are monitored so that we can scientifically
evaluate the success or decline in populations. Using an accepted Forestry Commission
technique we monitor red squirrel populations by visual survey. Transect lines are chosen
within woodland and are walked by volunteers at the same time of day three times in the
spring and three times in the autumn. 29 transects have been set up across Merseyside and
have been monitored since 2002, some of these have been monitored since the late 1990s
which will help to give a longer term picture. Three years of consistent data is starting to give
us a good picture of the red squirrel population.
The graph below shows changes in numbers seen, using indices of the average maximum
count of red squirrels each year.
120
100
80
Buffer
60
Refuge
40
20
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
The red squirrel population in the refuge area may have declined a little between 2002 and
2003 but has been remarkably stable since then. In the buffer zone woodlands, however, there
was a massive decline in 2004 caused by the squirrel pox outbreak in Little Crosby in autumn
2003. The average number of red squirrels seen on each transect (on which the indices are
based) is shown in the table below. This gives a clear indication of the high numbers that are
present in the Sefton Coast woodlands (and how easy they are to see) but it also shows just
how important the buffer zone woodlands were before the outbreak of disease – and hopefully
how important they will become again.
Mean per transect
Buffer Zone
Sefton Coast
2002
2.3
8.0
2003
3.1
5.1
2004
1.1
5.9
2005
1.2
5.9
The monitoring transects can also be used to estimate the numbers of red squirrels. During
2002-2005 the coastal woodlands held an average density of at least 1.5 squirrels per hectare.
From this the estimated spring population of the refuge is some 650-900 breeding adults. On
top of these there are 300 or more reds breeding in the urban areas of Crosby, Hightown,
Formby, Ainsdale, Birkdale and Southport, and 50-100 in the various woodlands in the buffer
zone. So, the best estimate of the total Sefton population is around 1000 to 1300 breeding
adults – a very important proportion of the English population.
SIGHTINGS OF GREY SQUIRRELS
Grey squirrels are now common everywhere in Merseyside outside of the Sefton Coast
woodlands and increasing numbers are being seen close to the Red Squirrel Refuge. The map
below shows sightings which were reported to North West Red Alert between 2002 and 2004
– the size of the symbols reflects the number of sightings.
The good news is that that very few were seen within the boundaries of the Refuge but
worryingly large numbers are penetrating areas of the Buffer Zone where red squirrels are
still present – such as the urban areas of Formby, Southport and Blundellsands, the woodlands
of Little Crosby and Ince Blundell, and the Southport parks.
Reported sightings of Grey Squirrels, 2002-2004
1
0
3
4
During 2002-2004 we received reports of more than 500 grey squirrels in the Buffer Zone.
With the help of Red Alert volunteers, local gamekeepers and many members of the public,
118 grey squirrels were controlled during this period – but that accounts for little more than
20% of those we know about!
Grey squirrels pose a lethal threat to red squirrels as was shown by the temporary extinction
of the red squirrel population at Ince Blundell and Little Crosby in 2004 when they were
infected with the squirrel pox virus spread by the greys.
The map also shows the main grey squirrel breeding areas outside of the Buffer Zone – in
Maghull, Aughton, Ormskirk, north Liverpool, and Knowsley Park – which are the main local
reservoirs for grey squirrels. For the moment we do not have sufficient resources to control
grey squirrels adequately in these areas, and control effort is concentrated on Little Crosby,
the Southport parks and the urban areas.
For most of the year relatively few grey squirrels are seen in the Buffer Zone as the graph
below shows. But every year there is a massive surge in reports during September and
October – these two months account for almost half of all grey squirrels seen all year. Early
autumn is also the time when red squirrels are on the move and when they are most likely to
be seen away from their main areas. This come about because both red and grey squirrels
begin their mating behaviour at this time of year and fights over territory drive away many
animals (particularly youngsters). So some red squirrels move away from the coast at the
same time as greys are moving in – the autumn is thus the season when reds and greys are
most in contact and when disease is most likely to spread to the reds.
Reports of Grey Squirrels in the Buffer Zone by month, 2002-2004.
120
100
80
60
40
20
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