Red Squirrel Mr. Hardy To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action is being taken to prevent the further decline and regional extinction of the red squirrel from those areas of England which it was known to occupy 10 years ago. Mr. Baldry Under schedule 5 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act, the red squirrel is fully protected throughout Britain against killing, injuring, taking and selling. There are projects being carried out in various parts of England to determine the population dynamics of the red squirrel for conservation management purposes. Several of these projects receive support from public sources, and the results should assist the efforts being made by English Nature and others to conserve the species.