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Guidance

Management requirements for woodland supplement 3 (squirrel control): operations note 60

This operations note is to be used to determine the appropriate works within woodland supplement 3: squirrel control and management.

Updates to this page

From:
Forestry Commission
Published:
8 February 2022
Last updated:
14 October 2026
Show all updates

  1. Added updated versions of the NFC impact assessment form and NFC squirrel activity and impact recording sheet.

  2. Removed out of date 'WS3.1 Grey squirrel control plan'.

  3. Added a note to the page confirming that this guidance is only relevant for agreements starting before February 2024.

  4. Edited to reflect changes to CS higher tier requirements: some reports are only compulsory for year 1, but may be requested in year 3 and 5.

  5. Added new versions of WS3.2, WS3.4 and WS3.8: compulsory submission is now for year 1 and 5. However year 3 may be required on request.

  6. Updated the guide to confirm that the records should now be submitted to the RPA, not the Forestry Commission.

  7. Added new version of the Squirrel cull and effort record.

  8. Updated email addresses for species management.

  9. Updated email addresses for species management.

  10. Updated email addresses for species management teams.

  11. Added updated versions of NFC Squirrel Activity and Impact Recording Sheet and NFC Activity and Impact Assessment Methodology.

  12. Guidance and supporting documentation updated.

  13. Updates to WS3.2 Grey Squirrel Control Plan Guidance and WS3.3 Squirrel Cull and Effort Record

  14. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Management requirements for woodland supplement (WS3): squirrel control

HTML

WS3.2 Grey squirrel control plan guide

HTML

WS3.3 Squirrel cull and effort record

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 53.6 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email grnationalteam@forestrycommission.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

WS3.4 Squirrel activity and impact assessment guide

HTML

WS3.5 NFC squirrel activity and impact recording sheet

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 61.7 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email grnationalteam@forestrycommission.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

WS3.6 NFC activity and impact assessment methodology

PDF, 2.18 MB, 11 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email grnationalteam@forestrycommission.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

WS3.7 Survey summary report template

MS Word Document, 97.7 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email grnationalteam@forestrycommission.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

WS3.8 Survey summary report guide

HTML

Details

This operations note only applies to those with an existing Countryside Stewardship woodland supplement 3 (WS3) agreement.

This does not apply to the new grey squirrel control and management (CWS3) option.

Find out more about applying to Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.

Monitoring the impact of grey squirrels is important for maintaining healthy woodlands. Land managers can use the National Forest Company (NFC) impact assessment form ‘NFC squirrel activity and impact recording sheet’ for general monitoring, and read ‘NFC activity and impact assessment methodology’ for more information about recording squirrel impact.

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