Scientific Report
Long-term Strategic Recovery Plan for Pine Martens
Pine Martens in Britain
Number of years of pine marten research at VWT
35
Number of pine marten projects
5
Number of pine Martens translocated between 2015-2025
100+
Working in partnership to support pine marten recovery in Britain
Vincent Wildlife Trust, with its 30-year history of pine marten research in Britain, has boosted the struggling marten population in Wales with a small, but significant, number of martens translocated from Scotland.
VWT Pine Marten Recovery Projects
The rise and fall of the pine marten
In the ancient wildwoods that once blanketed much of Britain, the pine marten was one of our most common carnivores, thriving amongst the diversity of trees and shrubs that offered a year round supply of food and snug tree holes in which to den.
Pine marten numbers declined dramatically during the 19th and early 20th century as a result of the combined impact of continued habitat loss and an increase in predator control associated with the growth in Victorian game shooting estates. Whilst the pine marten population in Scotland is recovering and expanding, the marten population in England and Wales had been showing no sign of recovery and the likely outcome would have been extinction. It was clear that intervention was needed to restore viable populations of this native mammal south of the Scottish border.
The People and Pine Martens in Wales (PPMW) project was a two year project, run during 2013 and 2014, which set out to address aspects of the national, stakeholder endorsed strategy for restoring the pine marten population in England and Wales.
The project was implemented by Vincent Wildlife Trust in collaboration with The Co-operative Wales, which provided funding through the Welsh Government’s voluntary carrier bag levy scheme introduced to Welsh Co-operative stores. The aims of running the project were to: increase awareness of pine martens as a native Welsh mammal; actively engage more people in conservation; enhance habitat for pine marten by providing den boxes for breeding; increase understanding of future opportunities for pine marten conservation, and gather further information in general to help the wider pine marten conservation strategy.
The project was a resounding success, achieving and exceeding the goals highlighted above. The findings of the project have directly fed into our ground-breaking Pine Marten Recovery Project. Particular aspects such as the public opinion survey, and habitat modelling conducted in PPMW, comprise key chapters in an externally peer-reviewed feasibility report, which has provided us with a solid foundation for our future reinforcement work. Work which we hope will ultimately see the recovery of the pine marten in southern Britain.
Mammals in a Sustainable Environment (MISE) was a project funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Ireland Wales Programme 2007-2013 (INTERREG IVA) that aimed to foster involvement of communities in Wales and Ireland in mammal conservation.
The project ran from 2011 to 2015 and was a partnership between Vincent Wildlife Trust, Natural Resources Wales, Snowdonia National Park Authority, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford City & County Council and The National Biodiversity Data Centre.
The MISE project developed non-invasive DNA-based techniques to monitor small and medium-sized mammals in areas of west Wales and in and around Waterford in East Ireland. With the help of volunteers and local people, we undertook monitoring and conservation activities for species of conservation interest, including red squirrel, otter, pine marten, polecat, dormouse, harvest mouse and bats. Analysis of samples collected from field surveys allowed the identification of potential threats to individual species which will be used to advise conservation work to safeguard the future of these mammals.
Although very rare, pine martens were still surviving in low numbers in parts of the Cambrian Mountains, Carmarthenshire and Snowdonia. With this evidence of pine martens present in some areas, reinforcement was considered a possibility, focusing on those areas within the marten’s natural range where habitat and other conditions are suitable. ‘Reinforcement’ means releasing individuals into an existing population, to increase population size and genetic diversity in order to improve population viability.
Following a feasibility study to identify areas in Wales with high habitat suitability for pine martens, and extensive field surveys, engagement with local communities and stakeholders — and with relevant licences granted — a population reinforcement was carried out.
Between 2015 and 2017, 51 pine martens were captured in Scotland, in areas where there is a healthy pine marten population, under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage. These animals were translocated and released in forestry in mid-Wales. The martens were kept in release pens for a few days once they arrived in Wales to allow them to acclimatise to their new surroundings and allow us to monitor them remotely via camera trap. They were given a variety of food similar to their natural diet.
The translocated pine martens have become established and breeding has been recorded every year since the translocation began.
Pine marten distribution survey of Wales
Following the successful translocations and re-establishment of a viable marten population in Wales, Vincent Wildlife Trust carried out a survey to track the spread of pine martens and to provide accurate, up-to-date information on pine marten distribution in Wales and give us a better understanding of the rate of range expansion and population growth of translocated populations.
Data on pine marten distribution were collected via scat surveys, with scats verified by DNA analysis, and also sightings and camera trap records from members of the public.
The Back from the Brink Pine Marten Project in Northern England was one of several species recovery projects within Back from the Brink; a partnership of conservation organisations working to save England’s most endangered species, thanks to funding from the National Lottery.
Pine martens were once common and widespread across Britain, but declined during the 18th and 19th centuries and are now rare in England. As the pine marten population in Scotland recovers and expands its range, pine martens have started to re-colonise parts of Northumberland and Cumbria.
The aim of the Back from the Brink project was to facilitate and monitor the natural recovery of pine martens in northern England, where they are re-colonising by spreading south over the Scottish border — and to develop a better understanding of their status and distribution in this region.
During the project, surveying and monitoring was carried out in selected forests to detect pine martens and gather data on their distribution, using methods such as camera traps. Volunteers, landowners and other organisations were heavily involved in this survey work. Pine marten den boxes (artificial boxes that replicate natural den sites for resting and breeding) have been installed to increase the availability of optimal den sites for martens to rest and breed in. These were monitored for evidence of use throughout the project.
There was great excitement when Back from the Brink volunteers, Amanda and Neil Tomas, discovered what is thought to be the first ever video footage of a pine marten in Northumberland. ‘The trail camera has been in place for just two weeks, one of ten we have placed in remote woodlands across Northumberland,’ said Kevin O’Hara, Back from the Brink Pine Marten Project Officer.
Since then, information gathered has confirmed that there is a small pine marten population present in northern Northumberland and Cumbria and has enabled a better understanding of its distribution and status. It will also contribute to a wider national recovery plan for pine martens. Whilst the pine marten population is in the early stages of re-establishment in northern England, thanks to the collaboration of local communities and landowners, the pine marten now has a stronger chance of recovery in this area.
Working in partnership with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Devon Wildlife Trust
Forest of Dean
In 2016, VWT began a collaborative project led by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Forestry England to embark on the reintroduction of the pine marten to the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley in Gloucestershire. Following a period of research and completion of a feasibility study, the translocation of pine martens to the forest began with 18 pine martens released in autumn 2019 and a further 17 martens released in autumn 2021. See further information on the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust website.
Devon
In 2022, VWT began a collaborative project led by Devon Wildlife Trust to embark on the reintroduction of the pine marten to the Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks. Following a period of research and completion of a feasibility study, the first translocation of pine martens took place in autumn 2024. See further information on the Devon Wildlife Trust website.
Vincent Wildlife Trust’s work in Scotland has focused on monitoring the recovery and range expansion of the pine marten population. The Trust undertook the first national pine marten survey of Scotland, England and Wales in the early 1980s. In 2012, the Trust completed a pine marten expansion zone survey in collaboration with Scottish Natural Heritage, to provide up-to-date information on current pine marten distribution. The survey confirmed that the pine marten population has continued to expand its range south and east of the Highlands and has re-colonised many parts of its former range in central and eastern Scotland.
This work was followed in 2013 by a distribution survey of southern Scotland. This survey found that pine martens are now present in parts of the Scottish borders and other areas south of the Central Belt where they have been absent for almost 200 years. The reports of both surveys can be downloaded 2012 report and 2013 report.
Long-term strategic recovery plan for pine martens in Britain
We worked in partnership with NatureScot (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage), Natural England and Forestry England, to produce a long-term strategic recovery plan for pine martens in Britain, which was published in 2021. The strategy emphasises the importance of conserving the recovering pine marten populations in Scotland and suggests a road map of staged releases to the most optimal regions in England and Wales in priority order, and in such a way that reintroduced populations have the highest probability of establishing, spreading and ultimately linking up.
