‘The evidence is in, the public has spoken, and the time for managed decline is over’
A major new conservation policy briefing document released ahead of the first national
Save Our Reds Day (15 May) warns that Britain still has no clear delivery plan to prevent the
disappearance of red squirrels from mainland England within approximately 25 years.
The warning follows publication of Natural England's Red Squirrel Recovery Strategy
(NECR669) on 14 April: a six-year scientific assessment produced with the Zoological
Society of London, which concluded that under current “do nothing” modelling, red squirrels
face extinction across mainland England by around 2051.
Now, grassroots conservation campaign Save Our Reds CIC, backed by more than 80,000
petition supporters, has published a new Conservation Action Framework examining what it
describes as the "critical gap between protection on paper and enforcement on the ground."
While the Natural England strategy models extinction risk in detail, Save Our Reds CIC
argues that it stops short of explaining how decline will actually be halted in practice.
Natural England's 140-page strategy contains no implementation timetable, no named
national delivery body, no committed funding pathway for squirrelpox vaccine deployment,
and no legally binding habitat protection mechanism for known red squirrel strongholds.
It also leaves unresolved questions around who will oversee delivery, how progress will be
measured, what enforcement powers will exist in areas facing active habitat loss, and how woodland protection decisions will be audited nationally.
The strategy itself states that its "next step" is determining which long-term recovery approach should be pursued.
Save Our Reds CIC argues that, while the scientific assessment is significant and welcome, six years of consultation have still not produced a clear operational plan to halt continued decline on the ground.
The campaign is calling for a coordinated recovery framework across Great Britain, recognising that red squirrel populations and the pressures facing them do not stop at political borders.
The campaign's own framework calls for:
Legal protection for red squirrels and their woodland habitats, including their addition to The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017
Proper enforcement of existing wildlife legislation with named accountability
Deliver and audit biodiversity commitments.
Accelerated squirrelpox vaccine and fertility control research, with a public timetable
Deployment of dedicated wildlife rangers across red squirrel strongholds in Great Britain
The campaign also draws on findings from a national awareness survey of 1,590 respondents, which found:
99% support stronger enforcement of habitat protections
97% support mandatory wildlife impact assessments before woodland felling
Marie Carter-Robb, Founder of Save Our Reds CIC, said:
“The scientific evidence is already there and the public concern is overwhelming. Yet six years of consultation have still not produced a clear national delivery plan.
“We are not calling for endless further discussion. We are calling for practical action before Britain loses one of its most loved native mammals.”
Wildlife filmmaker Terry Abraham, whose multi-award-winning documentaries helped inspire the campaign and who now becomes Save Our Reds CIC's first official ambassador, said:
“Our native red scamps are part of the soul of our northern woodlands. They're iconic and are a national favourite species. We cannot continue warning about decline while allowing vital habitat to disappear without meaningful protection or accountability.”
The full Conservation Action Framework is available at: saveourreds.uk/our-policy
A new interactive decline map released by Save Our Reds CIC, now live at https://saveourreds.netlify.app/, traces the dramatic long-term retreat of the native red squirrel across Britain and forms part of the campaign's growing push for a coordinated national recovery plan. The map shows how reds have collapsed across England, Scotland and Wales over the past century, making clear this is a Great Britain-wide crisis requiring a Great Britain-wide response.
Read the full briefing:Save Our Reds Conservation Action Framework
Read the Natural England report here:
https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2026/04/14/england-red-squirrel-recovery-strategy/
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