This new project: EC Square is aiming to enhance the
conservation of the European red squirrel.
This will occur through protecting the species from the
competition of the introduced Eastern grey squirrel in Northern
Italy. The website is full of useful information and which is
very relevant to the situation in the UK.
This is an extract from their new
website:
"Invasive alien species can constitute a serious threat to
biodiversity, causing the decline or even the extinction of many
native species. Alien species cause disturbance of the natural
environment and can interfere with ecosystem functioning and native
species survival and thus come under the remit of the UN Convention
on Biological Diversity and the European Biodiversity Strategy.
A well-documented case of an alien species threatening species
of the native fauna, and potentially ecosystem functioning, is the
widescale replacement of the native Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus
vulgaris) by the introduced eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus
carolinensis) on the British Isles and parts of northern Italy. The
rapid increase of the grey squirrel's distribution range, coincided
with a dramatic decline of the range of the native red squirrel,
and the grey squirrel has now replaced the red squirrel over much
of its range in Britain and in northwest Italy. Moreover, the grey
squirrel is also responsible for causing extensive damage to trees
through bark-stripping, and can affect the re-growth and natural
tree reproduction in forests, thus impacting the forestry industry
as well as causing ecological damage to forest ecosystems. Whereas,
the presence of grey squirrels in Great Britain, being on islands,
is a national problem, its spreading populations in northern Italy
are a problem for the entire European continent, since from Italy
the alien species is predicted to colonise surrounding countries,
in first instance France and Switzerland.
In the EC-SQUARE project we will develop methods to remove grey
squirrels in different socio-ecological contexts. This will be
integrated with societal assessments to investigate and shape
public perceptions of the general problematic posed by alien
species and in particular in the case of the grey squirrel.
Developing and carrying out specific control methods linked to
local public perception of the alien species will allow us to test
the efficacy of innovative methods under different local contexts
and to introduce new alien species management strategies which will
be made available to policy makers at different administrative
levels".
This photo below shows a European red squirrel
- you can see how dark it's coat is. This is
very common in Europe.
Photo by Alistair Craig Baxter
