First of all I want to say an enormous Thank You to all of you who care about squirrels and wildlife and have signed and forwarded the petition. We're currently at around 235 signatures, so please continue to spread the word, so that we can get to 1,000 signatures by next week. This will help me to get a meeting with the Flemish Ministry of Tourism, which is a key driving force behind this walkway project.

This morning I visited the Arboretum and I was able to talk to a staff member from Agentschap Natuur en Bos (the other important entity behind the project for the treetop walkway). Apparently, the project is still waiting to get the complete funding needed: a total of 7 million euros. Part of this is for the treetop walkway, and part is for the renovation of the associated Forest Museum. The two projects are related, since the walkway would depart from the Museum.

I also found out that the planned route for the walkway would indeed go right through the central part of the resident red squirrels' territories, and it would be impossible to build without cutting down some trees. I also confirmed that there has not yet been any environmental impact study, and the ANB representative was unable to tell me if one would be carried out.