SS15 wildlife watching: Bringing back Pine Martens

Saturday 23 July 2022

Bringing back Pine Martens

After my recent visit to Devon and seeing the outcomes of the brilliant work that the Devon Wildlife Trust has done in respect of re-introducing Beavers (see here and here), there now comes the encouraging news of their plans to re-introduce Pine Martens.

Pine Martens used to be among the UK's most common mammals but they were pushed to the brink of extinction in England. This was due to loss of habitat and persecution. In the Victorian era they were shot for sport, trapped for their fur and persecuted by gamekeepers so they disappeared from south west England in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, the UK’s remaining Pine Martens were limited to the north west of the Scottish Highlands and small pockets of territory in the uplands of northern England and Wales.

The Devon Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust and the National Trust have jointly established the Two Moors Pine Marten Project and it is hoped that Pine Martens could be released in autumn 2024. They are working with both the Exmoor National Park and the Dartmoor National Park to identify 2 suitable sites and discussions are taking place with residents, farmers, landowners and other land users to assess the impact of the plans on the environment and surrounding businesses.

A study published in 2021 found that south west England's low density of major roads coupled with a network of woodlands and wooded valleys, often connected by river catchment areas, would provide enough habitat for Pine Martens to thrive.

More information .... Devon Wildlife Trust - Bringing back Pine Martens

I have stayed at 2 locations which 99.9% guarantee sightings of Pine Martens …. Mingarry Lodges (see also here for an account of my last stay) and Ardnamurchan Bunkhouse.

Here are some photos plus a short video of Pine Martens during my stays at Mingarry Lodges ….