Officials will monitor reintroduced pine martens in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean, assessing their impact on grey squirrel numbers, following successes in Ireland and Scotland. These initiatives are part of an updated government policy addressing grey squirrels, whose population has reached 2.7 million across Great Britain since their 19th-century North American introduction. Grey squirrels also damage woodlands by stripping bark, with the economic cost of this destruction estimated at £37 million annually in England and Wales. “Red squirrels have now almost disappeared from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and are under serious pressure in Scotland. Without sustained and effective grey squirrel management, red squirrels could disappear from UK woodlands in 10 years.