VOLUNTEERS HELPING at Loch Leven National Nature Reserve will take part on a squirrel survey training day on Saturday.

The event will be led by Ken Neil, the Tayside red squirrel project officer, who will be joining SNH staff on Saturday at 9am for a walk into Levenmouth woods on the south-east corner of Loch Leven.

He will be demonstrating the standardised technique for surveying squirrels according to the ongoing Scottish Squirrel Survey.

Sightings for both species of squirrel are essential over the next 10 years to gain a better understanding of which native populations are most threatened by the spread of the invasive Grey Squirrel.

The standardised survey takes place regularly all over the country, but there are some gaps in the local area which SNH hope to encourage people to fill through the training day.

More information on the Scottish Squirrel Survey, or on how to report a squirrel sighting, can be obtained by visiting their website at www.scottishsquirrelsurvey.co.uk and Mr Neil can be contacted directly at redsquirrel.project@dundeecity.gov.uk.

Anyone wishing to take part in the training day should call the SNH reserve office on 01577 864439 to book a place.

*Volunteers are also being sought to help out with a tree planting day at Loch Leven NNR on February 9.

An SNH spokesman explained, “Trees are a vital part of any area.

“They are aesthetically pleasing, important for providing wildlife with food, home and shelter, and they provide us with the most vital thing of all: oxygen.

“Much of Scotland was once covered in Caledonian forest, but as mankind has developed and left its mark on the land, so the forest has receded to just a few small pockets in the North.”

Management is now an essential part of our environment, and as part of Scottish Natural Heritage’s management strategy, we are committed to regenerating areas of woodland at a local level.”

At Loch Leven NNR SNH is offering people the chance to come along and help restore areas of woodland around the National Nature Reserve as part of their tree planting initiative.

With large numbers of breeding ducks using the loch, shoreline vegetation is an essential part of habitat to provide broods with the shelter necessary.

Anyone who would like to help create a better quality of habitat on the reserve, is asked to call the office on 01577 864439 to book a place.