The Caldew Squirrel Initiative
Biodiversity and climate change
We are raising funds to purchase a much needed thermal imaging camera, to help field volunteers identify squirrel activity in the woodland canopy not visible to the naked eye.
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About this cause
The Caldew Squirrel Initiative (CSI) is an unregistered charity that supports red squirrel conservation efforts across an area of c.40 square miles surrounding the River Caldew and the villages of Hesket Newmarket, Caldbeck, Sebergham, Welton and Dalston in North Cumbria. The charity is a collaboration between local volunteers, landowners and conservationists that aims to preserve and enhance the native red squirrel population and their natural habitat via an all year round conservation programme of camera monitoring, supplementary feeding, recorded sightings and grey squirrel control. This is in addition to raising awareness and promoting red squirrel conservation within the wider community and in support of similar efforts regionally and nationally.
How this cause brings people in the community together
The UK’s native red squirrel population is at serious risk of extinction due to habitat loss and competition from the invasive, non-native grey squirrel. Cumbria is one of the few places in the UK where red squirrels can still be seen and CSI volunteers have been working for more than 10 years to protect and increase local red squirrel numbers. We use feeders in target woodlands to supplement natural food sources and trail cameras to assess the numbers and health of reds and the whereabouts of greys. Purchase of a new thermal imaging camera is a vital part of this continued conservation effort. Preserving red squirrels for future generations benefits the entire community and many people take great pleasure in seeing red squirrels in their gardens and in local woods.