This Bank Holiday weekend, we are asking supporters across the UK to contact their MPs and demand action before red squirrels disappear from England within the next 25 years, possibly much sooner without urgent action. The extinction story does not end there. There is no wall between England and the rest of the UK. While the work on the ground is being carried almost entirely by a volunteer army, and they are frankly amazing, there is no stopping this tide unless we act together now to save our reds.
For years, the crisis facing Britain's native red squirrels has been acknowledged. What has been missing is delivery.
Natural England's own Red Squirrel Recovery Strategy now confirms the danger: under current conditions, red squirrels face extinction in England within 25 years.
That warning is backed up by our own interactive app, Watch a Species Disappear, which allows supporters to see red squirrel range collapse across Britain over the past 150 years: saveourreds.netlify.app
The science is clear. What is missing is delivery.
Natural England's strategy is an important evidence base. But it is not a delivery plan.
It contains no implementation timetable. No named body responsible for action. No funded pathway for squirrelpox vaccine or grey squirrel fertility control. No clear mechanism to ensure protection on the ground.
That is why Save Our Reds CIC has published a practical Conservation Action Framework for England's red squirrels, built on the evidence and setting out what must happen next.
Read the full framework here: saveourreds.uk/our-policy
The Save Our Reds Five-Point Emergency Action Plan calls for:
1.Legally protect red squirrels and their woodland habitats - Add red squirrels to The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (like beavers in 2022). Designate all known red squirrel habitats as protected zones. No large-scale felling without mandatory wildlife impact assessment, independent oversight and enforceable penalties.
2. Enforce existing wildlife law with named accountability - Red squirrels are already protected in law, but that protection is too often ignored. Government must properly enforce existing legislation across all red squirrel areas, with clear responsibility placed on Forestry England, land managers and relevant authorities.
3. Deliver and audit biodiversity set-aside properly - The 20% biodiversity set-aside already exists in forestry guidance. It must now be implemented in reality, with demonstrable habitat retention for red squirrels, transparent monitoring and public reporting across all publicly funded woodland schemes.
4. Fund vaccine and fertility control research now - Restart and fully fund the squirrelpox vaccine programme with Moredun Research Institute. Publish a clear national timetable for grey squirrel fertility control. The strategy confirms these tools could transform outcomes but offers no mechanism to deliver them.
5. Deploy rangers on the ground now, not next year - Dedicated, trained wildlife rangers must be deployed immediately across red squirrel strongholds in Great Britain to monitor populations, support volunteers and respond rapidly to threats. Protection on paper means nothing without presence on the ground.
These are practical, cost-aware actions that can be taken within existing policy frameworks.
They do not require years of delay.
They require political will.
More than 80,000 people have now signed the Save Our Reds petition.
Now we need MPs to act.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Please find your MP here: members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP
Then send them the email below, asking them to support the Save Our Reds Conservation Action Framework and call for a published implementation timetable, named delivery body and funded action plan by April 2027.
Suggested email:
Link to MP Letter (Google Docs)
Please share this update widely.
Warnings are no longer enough.
The time for structured delivery has now begun.
Photo: by David Knighton.
#SaveOurReds