Reds alert

The European Squirrel Initiative (ESI) has welcomed the Forestry Commission’s research on controlling grey squirrels but says more needs to be done to support red squirrels and limit woodland damage. Figures released last year by ESI said that grey squirrels cost the UK economy around £40m a year. Grey squirrels, an invasive species, as well as doing extensive damage to woodland have driven the UK’s native red squirrels to the verge of extinction, both through competition and as carriers of the squirrel-pox virus.