That's no longer "just a petition."

That's a constituency.

And we built it without a major NGO, without lottery funding, without institutional backing, and without a PR machine.

Just people who care about Britain's native red squirrels and believe we can still correct a Victorian ecological mistake.

Native red squirrels have lived in Britain for around 10,000 years, arriving naturally from mainland Europe at the end of the last Ice Age as forests spread across the land.

They are the UK's only truly native squirrel species.

But their story is more complicated than many realise.

Centuries of deforestation had already pushed reds to the brink in parts of Britain long before the Victorians introduced North American grey squirrels in the late 1800s. Reds later recovered in some areas thanks to reintroductions and expanding conifer forests.

Then the balance shifted again.

Grey squirrels outcompete reds for food and habitat, and carry squirrelpox virus, which is devastating to native red populations.

Today, most of the UK's remaining red squirrels survive in Scotland, with isolated strongholds left in places such as Cumbria, Northumberland, the Isle of Wight, Brownsea Island, and parts of County Durham.

Now we face a choice:

Accept decline…or finally act.

Our campaign is calling for one change above all: add red squirrels to The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, extending to them the same level of legal protection granted to beavers in 2022.

If a species reintroduced after centuries of absence can receive that status, a native species that has lived here for thousands of years should not be left with less.

Alongside that, we are calling for stronger enforcement of existing wildlife protections, impact assessments before woodland felling, and long-term habitat resilience for red squirrels and other native species.

Read the policy framework: Save Our Reds Policy Document

Use our template letter to contact your MP: Letter to my MP

81,000 voices can become political pressure.

And political pressure can become change.

#SaveOurReds #RedSquirrels #BritishWildlife #NatureRecovery