Project Vision
This University of Cumbria-led project aims to use translocation methods to restore a self-sustaining population of pine martens in south Cumbria which will breed and disperse to recolonize their former range as a functioning metapopulation. Changes in perceptions and behaviours towards pine martens will support the ongoing recovery of the species in Cumbria, which is valued by rural communities as a key component of healthy woodland ecosystems and an important part of their natural heritage.
Background Information
The pine marten is categorised as Critically Endangered in England . It was abundant throughout Cumbria until the end of the 19th Century but then declined because of predator control activities and loss of forests. Pine martens are now legally protected, forest cover has improved, and the species is slowly recolonising parts of Northumberland and north-east Cumbria from Scottish strongholds. However, this species is functionally extinct in south Cumbria despite small numbers of recent records.
Modelling and GIS analyses have shown that natural recovery of the pine marten across most of England and Wales is unlikely without some intervention (MacPherson and Wright 2021). The use of reintroductions in contemporary pine marten recovery projects in mid-Wales and the Forest of Dean has demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach to establish new population foci and expand existing metapopulations. A UK-wide analysis of pine marten habitat identified the forests of south Cumbria as one of two priority areas for population reinforcement over the next decade, as part of a long-term strategic recovery plan for the species (MacPherson and Wright 2021).
Project Summary
Between September 2019 and June 2022, UoC completed a feasibility study for a pine marten translocation to south Cumbria (Mayhew et al. 2022). The results indicated suitable habitat, cross-sector support, and low risk for a founder pine marten population. This study concluded that a translocation of around 30 pine martens to south Cumbria over two years would be the best option to re-establish a viable breeding population; modelling analyses indicated that it would take several decades through natural recolonisation from the north.
In May 2024, UoC submitted a translocation licence application to NatureScot following a period of extensive community consultation, mitigation work and surveys of donor areas in the Scottish Highlands and the release area in south Cumbria. The application included a Habitat Regulations Assessment, Health Surveillance Protocol, Disease Risk Analysis, Monitoring, Release and Mitigation Protocol, and Communications and Conflict Plan. In June 2024, NatureScot issued a licence to trap and translocate 12-16 pine martens (equal numbers of male and female) from donor areas in Sutherland and Easter Ross for release in Forestry England’s Grizedale Forest and the Rusland Valley in south Cumbria. The first translocation event was implemented in September 2024 with the release of 13 adult pine martens (8 females, 5 males) and up to 16 animals will be released during a second translocation in September 2025.
Following live-trapping and prior to translocation, each pine marten was anaesthetised by a team of wildlife vets in the donor area for health checks, age and sex determination and to fit a radio-collar and microchip. In the release area, pine martens were individually housed in soft release pens and closely observed by licensed personnel for up to five days prior to release. In the current post-release period, translocated pine martens are being tracked using radiotelemetry to monitor dispersal, establish home range size and to recover sick pine martens for treatment and dead individuals for post-mortem examination. A range of non-invasive monitoring methods are also being deployed including camera traps, scat surveys and den box surveys. Following completion of the SCPMRP in October 2026, long-term population monitoring will be conducted by experienced ecologists and foresters from partner organisations.
SCPMRP has set up a fully funded Pine Marten Mitigation Service to support residents and landowners/gamekeepers with any nuisance pine martens, or animals that are reported as diseased or injured in the post-release period. Nuisance animals may include individuals predating game birds in release pens, or pine martens sheltering or denning in occupied dwellings. The service consists of experienced and licensed pine marten practitioners and includes colleagues from the local area team at Natural England, as well as the Cumbria County mammal recorder (John Martin), Forestry England wildlife wardens and SCPMRP staff (including project leader Dr. Mayhew who is a veterinarian, with over 20 years’ experience of treating native wildlife species). The team will be able to provide mitigation advice and a trapping service to treat and rehabilitate, or humanely euthanise, diseased or injured animals and to move pine martens in dwellings, when appropriate.
Project Partners
SCPMRP is a dynamic partnership of public and private sector organisations, and all activities are in line with the Scottish and English Codes for Conservation Translocations, and the Pine Marten Strategic Recovery Plan (MacPherson and Wright 2021).
Delivery partners
University of Cumbria (lead)
Forestry England
University of Leeds
Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery Project
Graythwaite Estate
Lifescape Project
Cumbria Wildlife Trust
National Trust
Lake District National Park
Grant funding partners
National Lottery Heritage Fund
Rewilding Europe
Ozone Ltd
Project Outcomes
• Reinforcing pine marten populations in Cumbria is improving the conservation status of the species in Britain through the recovery of part of its native range and the expansion of the metapopulation structure across England and Wales.
• The recovery of the pine marten in Cumbria is increasing the species richness of this region and helping to restore woodland ecosystem function by forming a more complete predator guild.
• The presence of pine martens is supporting the work of the Cumbrian squirrel groups to control grey squirrels and enable the restoration of red squirrels through competitive release.
• A Cumbrian pine marten population will form a crucial bridging population between northern and southern populations in Britain, to which links could be established through the restoration and creation of woodlands and habitat corridors.
• SCPMRP is a regionally important project and a unique collaboration between public/private sector organisations, community groups, landowners and university partners which provides an important platform for future regional landscape and species recovery initiatives.
• This scientifically driven and well-planned translocation project will reduce the incentive for unofficial, poorly conceived and implemented releases that may cause harm to captured animals and lead to unsustainable depletions of donor populations in Scotland.
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