Novel squirrel trap to reduce management costs by 80%

该项目由诺伯里地产公司与布拉德福德地产公司和T.O.C有限公司合作，旨在测试两种创新的松鼠陷阱设计，希望能用于显著减少英国灰松鼠的数量。据估计，灰松鼠每年给英国林业造成价值4000万英镑的损失。灰松鼠造成的破坏不仅影响林业部门的经济效益，还影响其提供的生态系统服务。灰松鼠破坏和剥去树木的树皮，导致死亡或损害和生长减少。树木和森林是政府零排放目标的重要组成部分，然而，由于松鼠的破坏，树木的生产力低于最佳水平，无法达到最佳水平的碳封存。政府在未来20年的种植目标是雄心勃勃的，并且通过各种拨款系统获得了充足的资金。然而，如果不减少灰松鼠的数量，现在种植的许多落叶树将无法在不遭受重大损害的情况下存活到成熟。灰松鼠的损害降低了树木提供高质量木材产品的潜力，这些木材产品可以在树木的生命周期结束后很长时间内继续储存碳。我们的目标是开发一种低投入、人性化、自诱的陷阱，可以减少80%的松鼠陷阱成本

_This project lead by Norbury Estate in conjunction with partners Bradford Estates and T.O.C Ltd aims to test two innovative designs of squirrel trap which can hopefully be used to significantly reduce the population of grey squirrels in the UK.__Grey squirrels cause an estimated £40 million worth of damage to UK forestry annually. The damage caused by grey squirrels not only effects the economics of the forestry sector but also the ecosystem services it can provide. Grey squirrels damage and remove bark from trees which causes mortality or damage and reduced growth. Trees and forests are a vital part of the governments zero emissions targets however trees growing at sub optimal productivity due to squirrel damage do not sequester carbon at optimal levels. Government planting targets over the next 20 years are ambitious and well-funded through various grant systems however many deciduous trees planted now will not survive to maturity without suffering significant damage if grey squirrel numbers are not reduced. Grey squirrel damage reduces the potential of a tree to deliver high quality timber products which can continue to store carbon long after the life cycle of the tree.__We aim to develop a low input, humane, self-baiting trap that can reduce squirrel trapping costs by 80%._