Prince Charles calls for squirrel cull to save timber industry

Landowners, backed by Prince Charles, are calling for a cull of grey squirrels and deer in order to protect Britain's woodlands and save the timber industry.

Louise Gray, The Telegraph 4 Jun 09;

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the invasive grey are stripping the bark of native woodland and weakening or even killing the trees.

At the same time an explosion in the deer population is making it impossible to regenerate woodland as young trees are eaten by deer.

In a hard-hitting report, the organisation warned that the timber industry, which is worth around £2 billion every year and employs tens of thousands of people, could die out completely because of the problem.

It is estimated grey squirrels cause at least £1 billion worth of damage to trees every year. Around two million wild deer roam the British Isles and countryside campaigners have called for the annual cull to be increased from about 350,000 to 500,000 a year.

The CLA are calling on the Government to make it more worthwhile to control both squirrels and deer by providing direct funding for culls in areas where the animals are out of control.

The organisation also called for "market incentives" for the timber industry, so it is worth controlling squirrels in valuable woodland. They also called for a Government campaign to encourage people to eat venison, so it is worthwhile killing deer in order to sell the meat, which is not currently profitable.

The report has been given the backing of the Prince of Wales, patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust. In a letter he said it was "absolutely crucial to eliminate the greys which are an alien species to the UK and threaten the very existence of the reds".

"The greys are doing immense and increasing damage to hardwoods all over the country and threaten to compromise all our efforts to restore native woodlands, let alone create community forests, etc," the Prince who has seen his own trees at Highgrove damaged, added.

The 15-page report said woodland was more important than ever for outdoor exercise and enjoyment, as a source of renewable energy through firewood and for absorbing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

However between 2003 and 2008, new planting of woods almost halved, falling from 5,100 hectares a year to 2,800 hectares a year.

Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, President of the CLA, said 60 per cent of woodland in Britain is undermanaged, meaning squirrels and deer are damaging trees, native wildlife is absent and the area is inaccessible for walkers. He blamed the Government for discouraging landowners by trying to "micromanage woodland" and called for market incentives instead to reinvigorate the timber industry and provide an income from forestry.

"We have to make the most of this underused resource and that means dealing with deer and squirrels," he added.