Clwyd West MS and Wales Species Champion for the Red Squirrel, Darren Millar, has today welcomed planned new laws to protect rare red squirrels from habitat loss, which causes population decline.

Speaking in today’s debate on the petition which called for the change in law when licencing tree felling activity and to require more action to consider wildlife when tree felling takes place on public land, Darren, paid tribute to Dr Craig Shuttleworth, “for organising the petition, and the incredible work that he does, day in, day out, in leading red squirrel conservation efforts across the country”, and highlighted why the new legislation is needed.   

He also thanked the Red Squirrels Trust, the Clocaenog Red Squirrels Trust, the Welsh Mountain Zoo “and a whole army of others, including many volunteers, who give their time, effort and resources fighting for these super furry animals.”

He said:

“As the red squirrel species champion in the Senedd, I'm absolutely delighted to see that this debate has been brought forward by the Petitions Committee.

“For over 10,000 years, the red squirrel population was the dominant population here in Wales of squirrels. And not only that, it populated the vast majority of the British Isles. But that population dwindled significantly, and as late as the 1990s there were just a few hundred red squirrels scattered across Wales in small population pockets, which were at risk. But it was at that time, before the turn of the millennium, that heroic conservation efforts to revive the species began. And thanks to these efforts, I'm proud to say that in my own constituency the Clocaenog forest now has a sustainable small, but growing red squirrel population. In mid Wales, the Vincent Wildlife Trust released pine martens, a predator to grey squirrels, and that project has, so far, also proved successful in boosting the population numbers there.

“But the biggest triumph, in my opinion, for any conservation effort of any animal in Wales, has been on the island of Anglesey. Because, thanks to its status as an island, an ambitious plan to remove grey squirrels was hatched, and, by 2015, it was announced that Anglesey was a grey squirrel-free zone. But all these efforts have been undermined due to outdated forestry legislation, which pays no regard to at-risk wildlife populations.

“How can it be that while it's illegal to kill or injure a red squirrel or disturb a red squirrel in its drey or nest,  a forest containing them is not protected and can be chopped down?

“Yet that, unfortunately, is the current state of affairs, as far as the law is concerned, here in Wales. Because while a felling licence is required to harvest timber or fell trees in private woodland in Wales, it's a scandal that such licences cannot be refused if they cause habitat loss and red squirrel population decline.

“So, on behalf of this small, but incredibly super furry animal, I want to encourage everybody to back the petition that's called for these changes to be made today.”