Red squirrels have weaker legal protection than beavers. We want that to change.
Today, to mark Red Squirrel Awareness Week, Save Our Reds has published its first briefing paper, setting out a practical proposal to strengthen legal protection for Britain’s endangered red squirrels.
At present, red squirrel breeding sites and resting places do not have the same level of protection as those of beavers, bats, dormice and otters.
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, someone accused of killing a red squirrel or destroying its drey in England or Wales may rely on a defence where the act was the incidental result of a lawful operation and could not reasonably have been avoided. That equivalent defence was removed for species protected under the Habitats Regulations almost twenty years ago.
We believe red squirrels should receive the same stronger protection.
Our new briefing paper, developed with leading red squirrel conservationists Dr Peter Lurz and Dr Craig Shuttleworth, proposes adding red squirrels to Schedule 2 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
Crucially, this does not require a new Act of Parliament. Ministers already have powers to amend the regulations through secondary legislation, and beavers were added to them in England in 2022.
The need is increasingly urgent. Natural England warned earlier this year that, on current management, red squirrels face a high probability of extinction across mainland England within about 25 years.
This change alone will not save our reds. But alongside tackling squirrelpox, grey squirrel competition and habitat loss, stronger protection for the places where red squirrels breed and rest is a practical step Government can take now.
Pets Magazine has published the full story, including examples from Cumbria, Sefton and Anglesey showing the pressures facing red squirrel habitat:
Read the full story:
www.petsmag.co.uk/red-squirrels-weaker-legal-protection-beavers/
Read our new briefing paper:
Save Our Reds Briefing Paper BP1/2026
More than 110,000 of you have already backed this campaign - thank you.
Please share this update and help us show ministers that stronger protection for our remaining red squirrels matters.
Thank you, as ever, for standing with our reds.
Marie Carter-Robb
Founder & director, Save Our Reds CIC