Red squirrel. Photographby Whitfield Benson.
The aims of the red squirrel Species Action Plan were to determine the distribution of red squirrels in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (YDNP), to ensure appropriate woodlands were in positive management, to raise awareness of the conservation requirements of red squirrels and to control grey squirrels in appropriate areas.
The distribution of red squirrels in the Cumbrian part of the YDNP has been widely known primarily due to the long standing recording work of the Sedbergh Red Squirrel Group. Since 2000, collation of visual records and the results of hair-tube survey work undertaken by Dales Volunteers have shown that the red squirrel population has increased and has spread into adjacent areas of North Yorkshire (Court and Fawcett, 2008). This is as a result of the conifer plantations in the area reaching cone-bearing age and providing a plentiful food supply for red squirrels.
The red squirrel conservation strategy for Northern England was published in 2005, and identified the 16 woodland areas in northern England where it was considered that red squirrel populations had the best chance of long term survival. Positive woodland management advice including the encouragement of grey squirrel control implemented as part of this reserve designation has been undertaken in the two reserves and buffer area within the YDNP in Widdale and Garsdale & Mallerstang.
Additional survey work by YDNPA staff and volunteers in Greenfield, Langstrothdale has confirmed that red squirrels are present in the plantation. The large size (>1000ha) and limited incursion routes for grey squirrels makes Greenfield a key site for red squirrel conservation which led to its designation as a red squirrel reserve in December 2008. This has enabled UPM Tilhill, with funding from the Forestry Commission, to employ a red squirrel ranger to undertake grey squirrel control.
Improving access for the public to see red squirrels is one of the other main objectives of the reserve strategy. Thanks to Hugh Kemp, one of the landowners in Snaizeholme, the YDNPA have been able to create a public red squirrel viewpoint that is accessible on a self guided walk from Hawes. This has enabled many visitors to get stunning close up views of this enigmatic creature.
The increase in the red squirrel population in the Yorkshire Dales is as a result of a considerable amount of work that has been undertaken by a wide range of local landowners and managers alongside organisations such as Save our Squirrels and the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.
Further information:
Downloadable Adobe PDF document:
Court, I.R. and Fawcett, H. 2008. The distribution of red squirrels sciurus vulgaris in the Yorkshire Dales National Park between 1990 and 2006. The Naturalist 133 pp 55 – 66.
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