Red Squirrel Population

What I can say to the hon. Gentleman is that we shall do absolutely all that we can to ensure that the red squirrel is protected and preserved. If the opportunity should present itself within the revision of the annexes, and if that proves to be an efficient way of achieving the objective that everyone in the Chamber this afternoon shares, it is of course something that we should, and will, consider. What we are talking about now, however, is how we can safeguard and preserve those remaining viable populations of red squirrels. In England, there are two areas where viable red squirrel populations remain: in the south, on the Isle of Wight, as we have heard, and Poole harbour islands, and in the forests of northern England. In both regions, partnerships involving private landowners, local authorities and conservation bodies are working together to try to save the red squirrel. The Government play a key role in such partnerships, as a land manager and funder and by providing expert advice. On the whole, the debate this afternoon has been extremely good natured and focused on the same aim, although I was somewhat disappointed that the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne) said that the Government needed a wake-up call. In fact, the Government have been heavily engaged in the issue and earlier this year, as he may know, launched their action plan in January on the red squirrel. The Government have been standing idly by, as he and the hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin) might have suggested. In both regions, the partnerships involving private landowners, local authorities and conservation bodies working together to save the red squirrel are critical. The Isle of Wight Red Squirrel Forum, led by Isle of Wight council, has led a wide range of initiatives including the monitoring of the red squirrel population. It has prepared contingency plans for dealing with any incursion of grey squirrels, and those plans have already successfully been put to the test, albeit, fortunately, by a false alarm. The contingency plan sprang into action and there was an invasion of people with the appropriate measures for dealing with a grey squirrel incursion before it was found that there was no threat. Grants totalling £735,000 have supported the creation of 210 hectares of new woodland by landowners on the Isle of Wight. The new woods link areas of existing woodland, much of which is managed by the Forestry Commission to favour red squirrels. The links have increased red squirrels’ ability to move around, as they are a species that prefers to keep to the trees rather than travel on the ground. They have also been helped by the introduction of rope bridges to cross busy highways. The work to maintain red squirrels on the Isle of Wight is a good illustration of what can be done through co-operation between local communities and organisations and national bodies. Co-operation between a wide range of bodies is equally key in the north of England, where there is no water barrier to protect the reds and where the greys have advanced inexorably through mixed woodland in the past 20 years. Research by Newcastle university has shown that the best chance for red squirrels to survive is in large coniferous forests that are unsuitable for greys. The Red Alert North England partnership has brought together private landowners’ representatives, the wildlife trusts, national park authorities, DEFRA, English Nature and the Forestry Commission to work together to preserve the remaining red squirrel population. Based on research evidence the partnership has produced the north of England red squirrel conservation strategy, which identifies 16 red squirrel reserves where it believes the red has the best chance of long-term survival. Those reserve areas and the surrounding buffer zones now have management guidelines to help landowners and managers to conserve red squirrels. Sitting suspended for a Division in the House. On resuming—