Advice and grants 

If you are a own or manage a woodland in one of our reserves, which provides a habitat for red squirrels, you can download some useful management guidelines and find out if you are eligible for a grant to help protect red squirrels and control grey squirrels.

Reserve management

In the absence of grey squirrels and associated squirrel pox virus, food supply is the most important factor influencing red squirrel population density. The aim for red squirrel reserves is therefore to manage the forest to sustain a continuous red squirrel food supply. The red squirrel reserve management guidelines outline management practices that reserve owners and managers should follow to achieve this.

Buffer zone management

The buffer zone is an area where we will seek to maintain red squirrels in the wider landscape and also deter grey squirrels from establishing and threatening the red squirrel reserves. The red squirrel buffer zone management guidelines outline management practices that reserve owners and managers should follow to achieve this.

Tree felling

All of the reserves are working forests and as such require continued management. Felling and re-stocking is an integral and very necessary part of forest management. These operations are carefully planned through long-term forest strategies and design plans. The Save our Squirrels Conservation Officers work with the forest managers and land owners, ensuring that these plans maintain the right structure of habitat and tree species to best benefit red squirrel populations. Felling operations are accounted for by ensuring there is sufficient surrounding habitat to accommodate displaced red squirrels.

Pre-felling checks and the timing of felling ensure that active dreys are not disturbed, and trees are felled in such a way as to encourage any squirrels and other wildlife to disperse into the surrounding habitat. It is important to remember that these forests were planted as ‘crops' and can not be left un-managed as they would most likely blow down over time.

English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS)

If you own land within the buffer zone of one of the 17 red squirrel reserves, you should be eligible for a grant to help cover the cost of grey squirrel control. EWGS grants are simple to apply for, and cover the cost of purchasing traps, bait, blood test kits, and time spent doing grey control. For further information contact the Save our Squirrels Conservation Officer, or visit the English Woodland Grant Scheme homepage. The Save our Squirrel Conservation Officer can assist with site assessments and completing application forms.