Despite red squirrels being the only native squirrel to Britain, the animal is now only present in North England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

20 years ago the grey squirrel population was not present in Northumberland and predictions state that in 10 years time there may not be any reds left.

The first red squirrel conservation campaign created by landowners, conservationists and academics was set up in the North East to prevent the extinction of the red squirrel from Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham.

Red Alert North East was founded in 1991.

The landowners and conservationists attempted to halt the progression of the red squirrel through Northumberland and maintain the boundaries by a wide-scale coordinated cull of the greys, keeping parts of Northumberland as ‘red-only’ areas. Simultaneously, research was carried out in England’s largest conifer forest at Kielder to look into sustainable means of supporting the red squirrel population over the grey.

Sadly, after 3 years, the funding was cut and the project discontinued.

With the grey squirrel population continuing to invade the North East and wipe out the red squirrels, the time for action is NOW!

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