Q: How did the UK Squirrel Accord come to exist and what are the goals and mission of the Accord?
The UK Squirrel Accord (UKSA) is a UK-wide partnership of 39 leading conservation and forestry organizations, government agencies and companies, with links to red squirrel conservation community groups.
UKSA works collaboratively to preserve the UK’s wooded landscapes and associated biodiversity under the following aims to:
-
Secure and expand UK red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, populations beyond current thresholds.
- Ensure UK woodlands flourish and deliver multiple benefits for future generations of wildlife and people
UKSA was formed at the invitation of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The partnership aims to bring a concerted and coordinated approach to securing the future of our red squirrels, improving the health of our woodlands, and managing the negative impacts of the grey squirrel, which is invasive in the UK.
Eastern grey squirrels were introduced from North America to the UK from the 1870s for ornamental purposes. After they established breeding populations, they began causing environmental and economic damage and a law was passed in 1937 to prevent their importation and keeping. They are replacing native red squirrels through competition and transmission of squirrel pox virus. A disease they rarely contract, but which is almost always fatal to red squirrels.
High densities of grey squirrels also threaten the health and survival of ecologically and economically important tree species. Their bark stripping activities damage, weaken and kill young trees, and the open wounds created are susceptible to infection from pathogens. Broadleaf trees around 10-50 years of age are targeted, such as oak trees that support more biodiversity than any other tree in the UK. This is a pressing issue for a country keen to plant more trees and create new woodlands for wildlife habitats, carbon sequestration, timber production and other important ecosystem services.
UKSA signatories recognize the importance of conserving the future of the UK’s red squirrel populations and protecting broadleaf trees by reducing grey squirrel populations.
Q: What role may fertility control play in the effort to restore red squirrel populations in the UK?
Grey squirrels are considered the greatest threat to red squirrel survival in the UK. It is imperative we find an effective and long-term solution to protect and restore red squirrel populations. Current lethal methods can be contentious, expensive, labor intensive and difficult to maintain at a landscape scale.
Fertility control of grey squirrels could offer an effective, less labour intensive and non-lethal method for managing populations, which may appeal to a wider audience. A research paper by Dunn et al. (2021) found that contraception is considered one of the most acceptable methods for grey squirrel management because it is non-lethal.
Grey squirrels were also introduced to Italy. This country is on the main Eurasian continent and is the red squirrel’s main habitat range. Grey squirrels are having similar impacts on red squirrel populations and tree health in Italy. If grey squirrels were to spread and establish populations in neighboring European countries it would be a major issue for long-term red squirrel species survival and broadleaf tree health. Therefore, our research may be beneficial to the UK and Europe.