Yesterday, a large area of woodland in our village of Gartmore was cut down.

There was a young family of red squirrels living in the trees. Their home has been destroyed just before winter. We were very involved in stopping this from happening, but unfortunately, we were unsuccessful.

Our MSP, Evelyn Tweed had helped put a stop to the felling until a meeting was held with the community and a squirrel survey carried out. Neither of these occurred. The machine turned up yesterday without any notice and had destroyed most of the woods by lunchtime.

The forestry commission asked the contractor to stop, but they refused. We called the police, but they said it was a matter for the forestry. It seemed no one was able to stop it from happening.

It continued today, even after our MSP was involved.

The woodland is marked on maps going back to the 1860s. It is now in ruins. So, we are trying to stop this from happening again elsewhere. Please share this post to raise awareness that #deforestation is happening in Scotland, 40 minutes from Glasgow where #COP26 is being held this month, in the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park

If you are on Twitter, please retweet this thread to call attention to the authorities and hold the relevant authorities to account. https://twitter.com/R_Patterso…/status/1448366022172585990

Red squirrels are a protected species, but no one is protecting them. We have very little native woodland left in Scotland. We can’t just watch as the last pockets are destroyed. We deeply appreciate your help,

The Dream Team