Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the conservation of native red squirrel populations.

The Government is committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species, including red squirrels, especially through the delivery of our biodiversity targets, which will benefit many of our native species including red squirrels.

We know that red squirrel decline is being driven by the squirrel pox virus, habitat availability and competition from non-native grey squirrels. To address these pressures, we are supporting research into grey squirrel fertility and have put management measures in place to control grey squirrels to aid red squirrel conservation.

We are considering how to go further to reduce the impacts of grey squirrels on our woodlands and red squirrel populations and shall have an update in due course.