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Red Alert North England
Development & Aims Public Interest Managing Expectation Landowner Support Scientific Underpinning
Development & Aims
 The North of England Red Squirrel Conservation Strategy came about through a series of discussions between the main Northern Wildlife Trusts and the Forestry Commission as to how best to protect this endearing little animal where it is strongest in England - the North.
Early on in the development of the strategy, the Trusts and the Commission began to bring together all the main interested parties in red squirrel conservation by creating a formal steering group. The purpose of the group was to provide the impetus, expertise and authority to drive the red squirrel conservation strategy forward, with the hope of securing the necessary resources to make it a reality.
Red squirrel conservation has a long history in England. Though beset by an acute lack of resources and the lessons of failed conservation approaches in the past, the concerted efforts of the Red Alert North England (RANEng) partnership have now produced a robust, coherent and workable strategy to effectively conserve and promote physical and intellectual access to red squirrels.
The Red Alert North England (RANEng) Steering Group comprises:
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Statutory agencies including Forestry Commission and Forest Enterprise, DEFRA, English Nature and the Northumberland and Lake District National Park Authorities
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Private organisations such as Center Parcs and the Confederation of Forest Industries (ConFor)
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Voluntary sector conservation bodies and partnerships such as the Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust
By bringing together this diverse group of organisations, certain issues relating to the emerging red squirrel strategy were raised and discussed, including:
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An appreciation of the intense public interest in, and concern for red squirrels, and the need to properly consider this in the development of future projects
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Recognition of the high levels of public expectation on red squirrel conservation and the need to effectively manage this expectation in light of the new strategy
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A realisation that for the new strategy to work, resources would have to be secured for both the habitat management/monitoring/grey control and landowner liaison elements
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An agreement that the emerging strategy should be reviewed through and underpinned by the latest scientific research.
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Public Interest 
The Steering Group agreed that it should build upon the successes and failures of past public engagement activities and look to develop an integrated approach to the provision of physical and intellectual access to red squirrels. Members of the group were therefore charged with producing an Audience Development Plan, in association with a consultant, that would review the opportunities for involving people in red squirrel conservation, help prioritise actions for the future and investigate means of securing the necessary human and other resources to deliver this.
Managing expectation
A major challenge has been to promote the new conservation strategy without losing public support. This has required a perceptual shift among local volunteers to support the focus on large conifer forests rather than the broader landscape. Calls to save reds in all places are still heard, but work by the Wildlife Trusts and other bodies has ensured the conifer forest approach is now widely understood and accepted amongst existing volunteers and other stakeholders.
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Landowner support
A recurrent theme has been the willingness of private landowners to assist in red squirrel conservation but the limited financial support available to facilitate this. Developing an appropriate level of statutory grant support for landowners has therefore been a priority.
In recent years, a handful of woodland owners have carried out grey control and habitat management using the Woodland Grant Scheme, both as a means to reduce the negative commercial impact grey squirrels were having on timber production and to reduce the pressure on local red populations. This experience has enabled the Forestry Commission to incorporate grant aid for red squirrel conservation into the new England Woodland Grant Scheme which opened in mid 2005.
As a sign of their support for red squirrel conservation, DEFRA have made it one of their priorities for Environmental Stewardship (Higher Level Scheme) under which they will fund red squirrel related habitat management, monitoring and access work.
 Scientific underpinning
In the last 15 years or so, our understanding of the inter-relationship between red and grey squirrels and the causes of red squirrel decline have improved markedly. The RANE Steering Group recognised that the emerging red squirrel conservation strategy and management recommendations for individual sites needed to draw on the most up to date scientific research.
The leading scientists in the field (Professor John Gurnell, Dr Peter Lurz and Dr Steve Rushton) were therefore involved in the preparation of the Red Squirrel Reserve and Buffer Zone Management Guidelines. These scientists support the conservation strategy and fully endorse the SOS Project.
A full list of the member organisations of Red Alert North England, and links to their websites, can be found here.
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