Resources

This report arises from a partnership project involving Vincent Wildlife Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage (NatureScot). The aim of this field-based survey was to gather new information on the changing distribution of the pine marten in 2012.Given the anecdotal evidence of the species’ continuing re-colonisation of Scotland following its historical decline, this survey concentrated upon an ‘Expansion Zone’ beyond the pine marten’s known range revealed by surveys in the 1980s (Velander 1983) and 1990s (Balharry et al. 1996).

Although sightings reports and occasional genetic evidence confirm the presence of the pine marten in parts of England and Wales, limited success in their detection despite concerted efforts suggest that they are not abundant and that populations have failed to recover from their historical decline.

The ‘Great North Pine Marten Pursuit’ surveys were initiated in order to collect pine marten DNA from extant populations of England. They aimed to determine the presence of pine martens in specific areas, and so allow a focussing of future conservation resources in those areas, whilst also determining the genetic haplotype of the pine martens.

In Ireland, the Irish stoat is considered to be a near-endemic subspecies, with >90% of the global population estimated to occur in the country. This study involved laying plastic baited hair tubes, 10 per 200 metres at 20m intervals, along hedgerows in the bottom left 1km² of 10km grid squares across County Galway.

In 1995, Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) revived its interest in pine martens and explored a number of different methods of detecting the presence of martens, including scat surveys. During this period the Trust’s experiences led to a growing scepticism about the reliability of the field identification of scats on the basis of physical attributes.

Since 2015, VWT has been involved in pine marten translocations from Scotland for population restoration in Wales and, more recently, Gloucestershire. A primary consideration in these translocations has been to minimise the potential for negative impacts on recovering donor populations in Scotland. To this end, surveys and monitoring have been carried out to collect further data to inform the way in which current and future sustainable harvesting models are applied. Based on precautionary principle donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Aenean eu leo quam. Pellentesque ornare sem lacinia quam venenatis vestibulum. Morbi leo risus, porta ac consectetur ac, vestibulum at eros. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis.  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam id dolor id nibh ultricies vehicula ut id elit.