New Blood!

I suppose I ought to introduce myself. I have recently started (week two! Woo!) as a Community Engagement Assistant at the northern office of Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Along with the existing team and another CEA, I will be promoting the SoS project in the Cumbria area. Suffice it to say that I am enjoying it enormously so far and it's a project which promises to challenge me in new ways for a worthy cause. I have chosen the soubriquet Squirrel Nutkin because a) it's squirrely, duh; and b) it's a mild homage to Beatrix Potter, something of a local icon.

A little bit about me. I am originally from Cumbria and therefore familiar with the local area and the culture of the county, allowing me to tailor my efforts to greatest effect, which helps, because that's my job! I am involved in volunteer work within the community, so working at Save Our Squirrels is a natural extension of my previous experience. If I can find a way to blend these together, all the better! I'm all about the synergy.

So, what am I doing here? I'm scheduled to stay here until November, by which time I hope to have made a significant impact on everyone out there. I will be working closely with SoS affiliates and Squirrelpaws to increase awareness for our organisation and, more importantly, our little furry friend, the red squirrel or sciurus vulgaris. I shan't spoil the surprise, but we have some interesting things planned in the coming months which you won't want to miss! I hope to have raised the profile of Save Our Squirrels significantly by the time I leave.

As I write this, we're just getting down to business. Squirrelpaws has left us CEAs to fend for ourselves for the afternoon while she does very important business in far away Geordie land.

Last week, beyond the admin involved with starting work somewhere new, we got to meet the team at the head office in their lovely building which makes us all very envious and also visit Whinlatter Forest Park west of Keswick. It was a new experience for me as I hadn't been there as an adult and it seemed much smaller than when I last went! (OK, I was about nine, but I don't see how that's relevant...) I'll be guiding visitors around a squirrel trail before long, so keep an eye out for a bemused person wandering around in an SoS t-shirt and try not to get eaten by any wildlife while on the walk because I don't know what to do if it happens and nobody will tell me...oh, and I saw a red squirrel, too, which made my day!

But anyway! That's me. More to come, no doubt, as time progresses. But for now, I'll wish you all a Squirrely week!

Saving Reds - The Next Phase

Hi again, its been a while since I last updated this because I wasn't quite sure what to put. The red squirrel conservation world has been in something of a limbo for several months now, while "The Future" is decided upon. The strategies, the people or organisation who should be involved, who are involved already, what roles they should or do play and of course how its going to get paid for is all up for discussion. Now being led by the government, Natural England and the Forestry Commission, there are many things I cannot say here and frankly I'm too far down the food chain to know all of the ins and outs anyway, but what I can say is that there is finally movement. This can only be a good thing as by hesitating, one often loses the game.

The last phase of squiggy conservation has been led by the Save our Squirrels Project - see earlier blog entry on what they do, but essentially they are made up of a partnership of lots of other organistaions including the Wildlife Trusts and NE/FC to deliver the stratgey that they all decided upon. SoS works with the volunteer groups and local communities to protect the red. In the next phase, which I'm told at this point will kick off in about September 2010 (watch the British press for media releases on this later in the year), there will be an even bigger project, predominantly aimed at culling the introduced grey squirrels (the indistputeable main reason for the reds decline), which will be led by the government i.e. their money mostly, but delivered in partnership by whoever wins the contract for the work. Watch this space.

So while things are definately on the move again, there are still many unknowns. What I do know, however, is that without ongoing financial support, in a big way, the work will not happen and Tufty will die. All the strategies and partnerships in the world cannot do anything without cash, so if you as an individual, or as a company want to help keep the work going, please donate or sponsor an element. Contact Save our Squirrels through their website www.saveoursquirrels.org
Thanks to Andrea and Keith Cameron for the picture of the squigs in their garden in Cumbria.