A new project aims to protect and conserve populations of red squirrels in the north of England and southern Scotland by introducing fertility control for grey squirrels.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund will support Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Red Squirrel Recovery Network (RSRN) project.

The UK is at a critical point in the recovery of red squirrels as grey squirrels have taken over the majority of mainland England and parts of Scotland, putting reds at risk of extinction.

A development fund of £158,600 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Director Helen Featherstone said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re delighted to support the development phase of this project that will enable Northumberland Wildlife Trust and its community partners to take a collaborative approach to protect the native red squirrel and give it the best chance of survival. It is such a magical experience to catch a glimpse of this rare creature - it would be incredible for this to be a more regular occurrence within our natural heritage spaces.”

The five year RSRN project will see Northumberland Wildlife Trust working in partnership with Cumbria Wildlife Trust,  the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, The Southern Uplands Partnership based in Scotland and Knowsley Safari Foundation in Prescot in Merseyside.

During the 12 month development phase the team will develop the methodology for large scale grey squirrel fertility control, plan audience engagement and activity programmes and write a conservation plan.

Team members will collect data on squirrel presence/absence, grey squirrel management activity and volunteer demographics to identify opportunities to encourage new volunteers.

There will be a public awareness programme to inform on the relationship between squirrels and pine martens - a natural predator of squirrels, and the impact they may have.

The delivery phase will establish the governance for a community grant, provided by the RSRN, to local community groups in the delivery phase enabling them to undertake their own red squirrel conservation projects.

David Harpley, Director of Nature Recovery, Cumbria Wildlife Trust said: “We welcome this funding, and we are looking forward to working with local communities on the conservation of red squirrels, which are such an important part of Cumbria’s wildlife. Fertility control for grey squirrels has been a long time in development, so it is great to be working towards large scale trials of the technique.”