MID‐WALES RED SQUIRREL ACTION PLAN A five year plan to consolidate the existing red squirrel populations by maximising the potential habitat area within the Mid Wales forest region and protecting the population from grey squirrels. 2009‐2014 Author: Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership MID‐WALES RED SQUIRREL PARTNERSHIP 2009 CONTENTS Page number Executive Summary........................................................................................2 Background....................................................................................................3 Mid Wales Red Squirrel Conservation Action Plan..........................................4 Appendices Appendix 1: Summary table of Key Priority Actions for conservation of red squirrels in the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site........................................10 Appendix 2: Summary table of Proposed Budget Outline for carrying out key priority actions.............................................................................................16 Appendix 3: Justification for the boundary of the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site…………………………………………………………………………….........………….….17 Appendix 4: Boundary maps for the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site.......21 Appendix 5: Grey squirrel control proposal for the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site......................................................................................................24 Appendix 6: Conservation Plan for Red Squirrels in Wales ...........................28 2 MID‐WALES RED SQUIRREL PARTNERSHIP 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • The information gathered so far by the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership principally from live trapping surveys and sighting records has shown that the population of red squirrels in Mid Wales occurs at widely distributed locations within the boundary identified by the Partnership. • The extensive area involved and the difficult terrain makes surveying for red squirrels very difficult and unless significant funding is available it is not going to be possible to gain an accurate picture of population size in the short term. • It is believed that because of the relatively inhospitable habitat which the upland conifer plantations provide, red squirrels are likely to occur in relatively low densities in Mid Wales (adding to the difficulties of proving population size/extent) but the population is sustainable because of the extensive area of forestry available ‐ the combination of the size, structure and species composition of the forest has provided a habitat that has enabled red squirrels to persist and with suitable management will allow this to continue into the future. It is vital therefore that the boundary of the Mid Wales Focal Site is inclusive of the extensive areas of forestry (together with a buffer zone for grey squirrel control ‐ see below). • The current urgency in Mid Wales is because much of this forestry has now come to maturity and has already been felled or is planned to be felled over the next few years. • The key priorities out of the conservation actions identified currently in Mid Wales are forest management for red squirrels and grey squirrel control • Other issues to be addressed will include further survey and monitoring of both red and grey squirrels, education and public awareness. • A Mid Wales Red Squirrel Management Plan is needed at the landscape scale to draw together the priorities outlined above, to include both private and state‐ owned forestry areas. It would need to be agreed by all landowners. • We would envisage the production of such a document to be a collaborative exercise between FCW, Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and the other partners in the MWRSP • It should be noted that the detail of the Action Plan & how it will be implemented will need to evolve as more information is gathered. 3 MID‐WALES RED SQUIRREL PARTNERSHIP 2009 BACKGROUND • In July 2009 the Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing and the Minister for Rural Affairs both approved the Conservation Plan for Red Squirrels in Wales (prepared by the Wales Squirrel Forum (WSF)). This will provide a framework for the conservation and recovery of the red squirrel in Wales and replaces the 1999 Wales Red Squirrel Strategy (Warren & Matthews (1994)1). • Both Ministers have also approved three focal sites for red squirrel action in Wales ‐ Anglesey, Clocaenog and Mid Wales and have agreed that urgent strategic action be taken in these three areas, although the exact scale of the focal site in Mid Wales has yet to be agreed. Unlike the Anglesey and Clocaenog focal sites which consist of discrete areas of relatively well surveyed forestry supporting the red squirrels, in Mid Wales the forestry potentially supporting red squirrels is extensive, covering an area straddling the county borders of Powys, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. • In taking forward the Ministerial announcement, Forestry Commission Wales (FCW) has requested that the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership (MWRSP) submits information outlining the key priorities for conserving the red squirrel population in Mid Wales. This Action Plan has been produced to complement the approved Conservation Plan for Red Squirrels in Wales and to inform specifically the strategic actions required to conserve red squirrels within Mid Wales. The key priorities of the Action Plan are highlighted in the Executive Summary above and outlined in more detail in the supporting Appendices: 1 Warren R, Matthews, J.. (1999) The Wales Red Squirrel Strategy. CCW Natural Science Report 99/9/2. 4 MID‐WALES RED SQUIRREL PARTNERSHIP 2009 MID WALES RED SQUIRREL CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN The following action headings are taken from the Conservation Plan for Red Squirrels in Wales (Wales Squirrel Forum 2009) (see Appendix 6) with the text and actions adapted to reflect the situation in Mid Wales. A summary table of actions has been drawn up in Appendix 1 to highlight the key priorities 1. IDENTIFY AND MONITOR POPULATIONS OF RED SQUIRRELS The size and distribution of the Mid Wales population cannot be assessed adequately from the current available data. Obtaining additional good‐quality population data is desirable in order to inform management strategies, to obtain an initial population estimate and to monitor progress. A vital part of the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership work therefore, has been to begin a strategic live‐trapping programme of red squirrel surveys aimed at providing sound baseline data to inform planning and decision making. However, because of the difficulties in surveying for red squirrels in such a large area (and based on the results of surveys done so far) until sufficient population data is obtained to prove otherwise, there should be an assumption that red squirrels are distributed throughout the Mid Wales forests (See Appendix 2: Justification for the boundary of the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site, and Appendix 3: Boundary Maps for the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site). This is consistent with the objective of establishing a sustainable red squirrel population within all suitable habitat rather than being simply the adoption of a ‘precautionary’ approach. This also mirrors the approach adopted to conserve red squirrels in the Clocaenog forest area. The assumption that red squirrels are indeed widely distributed in these Mid Wales forests is supported by surveys, live‐trapping, and sightings records. Live trapping in particular, has provided records from locations widely distributed across the chosen core area of the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site, including a record of a breeding female (Hobbs (2005)1) Population studies of red squirrels in other areas of Britain also support the adoption of a ‘whole forest’ approach. (Lurz et al. (2000)2) See the revised Forestry Commission Practice note 011 ‘Practical Techniques for Surveying and Monitoring Squirrels’ (Gurnell et al., (2009)3). 1 Hobbs, A (2005) Assessment of the status of the red squirrel in Central Wales. CCW SCF Report: 05/02/07 2 Lurz et al. (2000) Effects of temporal and spatial variations in food supply on the space and habitat use of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris L.). J. Zool., Lond. 251, 167-178 3 Gurnell, J, Lurz, P., Pepper, H. (2009) Practical techniques for surveying and monitoring squirrels. Forestry Commission Practice Note 011. 5 MID‐WALES RED SQUIRREL PARTNERSHIP 2009 ACTION 1.1: Identify a practical survey and monitoring methodology for red squirrels in the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site ACTION 1.2: Implement the survey and monitoring identified in Action 1.1 ACTION 1.3: Survey all other sites with records of red squirrels in the last 10 years and assess these sites against the focal site assessment criteria as appropriate ACTION 1.4: All red and grey squirrel data to be sent regularly to both Local Records Centres (WWBIC and BIS) for collation and data sharing. The Record Centres to produce up to date distribution maps every year. 2. PROTECT RED SQUIRREL POPULATIONS A. HABITAT MANAGEMENT Implementation of appropriate habitat management (in both the short and long term) is essential for sustaining viable red squirrel populations. The first priority is to identify key habitat areas for red squirrels together with arboreal connective corridors throughout the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site. The key habitat and connective corridors network needs to be maintained at all times. It would not necessarily be static and may move over time as the forest matures. The network needs to include both private and public sector woodland areas. Much of the