The goal of this Forum is to promote the long-term conservation of red squirrel populations in South Scotland through volunteer action.
It was formed in January 2018 to create a collaborative support network for volunteer groups across South Scotland and to give all volunteers a collective voice. The Forum also strives to ensure that volunteer efforts across the Scottish-English border are complementary, through working with Northern Red Squirrels, the volunteer forum covering Northumberland and Cumbria. The Forum’s Terms of Reference are here.
The Forum acts as
- A network for all volunteers working to conserve the red squirrel in South Scotland
- An umbrella to represent the views of its volunteers
- A contact point at public events, and via social media and online
The Forum includes all volunteers working for each of the Squirrel Groups/Networks in South Scotland. There are currently eight of these, with more in the making. If you click on the areas covered by these groups/networks on the map below, you will see how to make contact and can find out more about each of them.
The Forum and its groups/networks operate in partnership with Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels: Developing Community Action. This is a 5-year project (2017-22) led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. One of its main objectives is to build the capacity of local communities to conserve red squirrel populations in their surroundings on a long-term basis.