Conservation group to help protect Britain's red squirrels from home using £18,000 National Lottery grant

A conservation organisation has secured £18,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help protect Britain's red squirrels.

The Upper Coquetdale Red Squirrel Group will use the funding to acquire 50 motion-activated devices as part of efforts to safeguard England's dwindling red squirrel population.

The equipment will be positioned throughout remote woodland areas in the region, enabling the group to track squirrel activity and identify potential threats to the species.

This "virtual ranger" initiative combines modern technology with community participation to monitor one of Britain's most vulnerable native mammals.

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Community volunteers will be recruited to examine the live footage from their homes, creating detailed maps of red squirrel populations across the area.

The scheme offers particular benefits for those unable to undertake traditional conservation work in the field.

Ian Glendinning, who chairs the UCRSG, said: "It allows older residents who might find physical fieldwork too challenging to become wildlife defenders."

He explained that local people themselves sparked the idea for the project.

Mr Glendinning said: "The inspiration for the project came directly from Coquetdale residents.

"During community presentations many older people with limited mobility expressed a passionate desire to help."

The two-year monitoring programme aims to provide early warning when grey squirrels encroach on red squirrel territory.

Numerous conservation organisations consider England's red squirrel numbers to be approaching extinction levels, making such surveillance crucial.

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Grey squirrels, which originated in North America, pose a significant danger to their native cousins.

The invasive species is larger and more aggressive, and has been officially classified as a non-native threat.

Grey squirrels transmit a pox virus that proves fatal to red squirrels, though the greys themselves remain unaffected by the disease.

Humane culling of grey squirrels is permitted under current legislation.

Rothbury councillor Steven Bridgett praised the initiative for placing the local community "at the heart of conservation".

He said: "It will produce real-life data that will enable strategic conservation measures to be directed at areas most in need, a great example of what can be achieved by teamwork between those monitoring and those on the ground."

The group plans to regularly share the most compelling wildlife footage online, giving even housebound residents the opportunity to witness the hidden world of Coquetdale's woodlands.

Those wishing to volunteer require only a mobile phone and do not need to reside in the local area to participate.

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