11^th July 2006

 ESI WELCOMES ITALIAN SQUIRREL DECISION 

The eradication of grey squirrels in parts of northern Italy came a step nearer following a recent meeting held in Milan, which looked at strategies to protect the threatened red squirrel population in the TicinoValley, Lombardy, northern Italy. 

The workshop, organised by the Region Lombardia, the TicinoNational Park and the Italian Wildlife Institute, was attended by representatives of the Italian and French Environment Ministries and regional authorities. 

Delegates heard from a variety of experts who delivered presentations showing how conservation of the area’s red squirrel population, along with those in Piedmont near Turin and Genoa Nervi in Liguria, urgently requires eradication of the American grey squirrels if they are to survive. 

Following an explanation by the Italian Environment Ministry of the legal basis of an eradication campaign, the workshop decided to continue efforts to design and commence such a programme. The programme will be supported by regional authorities and take into account animal welfare issues to minimise the stress and sufferance of the target animals. 

Miles Barne, Chairman of the European Squirrel Initiative (ESI), said, “We are delighted with the decision in Italy, it’s another important step towards the future control of the highly invasive grey squirrel population in the Ticino valley and into the Central Alps.  The successful eradication of a few hundred grey squirrels in the TicinoValley may take a few years to complete but will set an important precedent and concentrate the minds on the far greater danger of the rapidly expanding Piedmont population for which a new method of control will be required.” 

The grey squirrel was introduced to Italy in 1948 and has caused the progressive disappearance of the native red squirrel, alongside damaging commercial tree and fruit plantations and cereal crops. 

A recent report commissioned by the ESI and undertaken by the University of Turin and the University of Newcastle predicts that without an eradication campaign the grey squirrel will colonise the area along the Ticino and Lake Maggiore within 20 years, entering Switzerland some five years later.  

The report also predicts that an effective campaign to eradicate the Ticino grey squirrel population could delay the invasion of Switzerland by around 100 years. 

ENDS 

Issued on behalf of the ESI by Kendalls. For more information, please contact Andrew Kendall, telephone 01394 610022.  Mobile:  07850 601354 

NOTES TO EDITORS

The European Squirrel Initiative was founded in June 2002 by a group of concerned conservationists and foresters. The organisation seeks the restoration of the native Red Squirrel and the protection of the natural environment by removing the impact of the alien Grey Squirrel in Europe.

Its role is to 

• Persuade conservation bodies and governments of the absolute necessity of ridding Europe of the Grey Squirrel.
• Continue to commission research into the impact of the Grey Squirrel on local ecosystems.