A year of highlights for Martens on the Move in 2025
As we enter the new year and 2025 has come to an end, Martens on the Move has hit the halfway point of the four-year project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Rowie Burcham, Communications and Engagement Officer, looks back at the highlights of the year.
Last year was another busy year for the Martens on the Move Team, with den box installations, pine marten monitoring, working with volunteers and engaging the public at community events. We also launched three Pine Marten Haven sites and continued to develop the National Pine Marten Monitoring Programme – Marten Map. All this work has been accomplished across eleven counties in Wales, Scotland and England, and the project team (as well as the wider VWT staff) has really worked hard to make 2025 a successful year for pine marten conservation.
What did we get up to in 2025?
Volunteer training
A personal Martens on the Move highlight was being part of so many volunteer training sessions and seeing the enthusiasm for pine martens. We have run these sessions across the project area, from the Solway Forests in Scotland to the Forest of Dean in England, and the forests of Ceredigion in Wales. We have also hosted webinars, for volunteers to attend online.
These activities have been led by Martens on the Move Project Officers, Victoria Chanin and Lucy Nord, with support from VWT’s Carnivore Conservation Officer, Katherine McBride, and Volunteering and Community Engagement Officer, Laura Lawrance-Owen. Topics have included pine marten den box installation and maintenance, and how to monitor the species.
I especially enjoyed being part of the three-day den box installation training we hosted in the Tweed Valley in October. We started the week by giving the volunteers an introduction to the project, pine martens and why the species needs den boxes. We then spent the next two-and-a-half days outside in the beautiful Tweed Valley woodlands learning to install the boxes. By the end, we had eight brilliant volunteers from across the Scottish Borders who are now confident in helping with den box installations. Having experienced and enthusiastic volunteers supporting this field work is invaluable to the project and pine marten conservation goals. The ultimate goal is for those volunteers to start leading field work.
Impressively, in 2025 and with the help of volunteers, we installed 42 new pine marten den boxes made by three Men’s Sheds (Dalbeattie, Peebles and District and Llangadog, Llandeilo and Llandovery), Brechfa Community Shed, and the Houghton Project. Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped to make this happen!
Pine Marten Haven launches
As Communications and Engagement Officer for the project, a large part of my work this year has been helping to create our three new Pine Marten Haven sites (one in each of Wales, Scotland and England) and to organise their launch events. These Haven sites have been developed for local communities, regional visitors and national visitors to discover and learn about all things pine marten. With new wildlife hides, information boards and pine marten silhouettes hidden in the trees, these nature trails are designed for all the family to enjoy.
The Pine Marten Havens
- Wentwood Forest in Monmouthshire (Wales) with Coed Cadw – the Woodland Trust in Wales, and Natural Resources Wales.
- Kirroughtree in Dumfries and Galloway (Scotland) with Forestry and Land Scotland.
- Wallington in Northumberland (England) with the National Trust.
Creating the Havens was a massive team effort involving VWT staff, project partners, contractors and volunteers to ensure each site was ready for launch day... including some construction work at the Wentwood Haven site. We worked with Coed Cadw staff and volunteers to build the path to the Wildlife Hide and to install a step and ramp into the Hide. This was quite physical work (especially moving the gravel for the path from the car park to the hide!), but the volunteers kept a positive attitude throughout. It was also lovely getting to know members of the local community who clearly have a deep affection for Wentwood Forest.
Finally, we officially opened the Haven sites with our project partners, with each launch event bringing together people from different groups, organisations and communities involved in pine marten conservation in their nation. The events celebrated the hard work that had gone into the development of the Havens over the past year and a half and guests enjoyed guided walks along the trail, a ribbon cutting event to open each of the wildlife hides, a chance to chat and eat pine marten cake in the forest. The team also led guided tours for members of the public.
Marten Map: The National Pine Marten Monitoring Programme
Launched at the end of 2024, this is Britain’s first National Pine Marten Monitoring Programme (NPMMP) and is a database that collects and collates pine marten data from individuals, groups and organisations across Britain. This data provides vital information to build the Marten Map, a pine marten distribution map that will provide information on pine marten recovery and allow us help to prioritise conservation actions where they are most effective.
In 2025, the team continued to refine the database to ensure a continuous and efficient flow of data. The NPMMP uses a geographic information system (GIS) to record, analyse and share data with a user-friendly data entry form ensuring that it is as easy as possible for everyone to use.
To find out more about the NPMMP, click here: Martens on the Move | National Pine Marten Monitoring
Pine marten monitoring
Den boxes have been used for pine marten conservation for more than 20 years, since forest rangers first discovered the species using owl boxes for dens in Galloway Forest Park in 1988. This sparked the idea to create specific boxes for the species and the VWT pine marten den box was created. Where den boxes have previously been installed in large numbers, it has been to support the establishment of translocated populations. However, for the first time, Martens on the Move has chosen to focus our installation efforts of den boxes at comparatively low densities across vast areas where recovering populations are most likely to naturally recolonise (based on previous habitat and species modelling data). In this way we can both improve the habitat for pine martens by providing them with critical denning opportunities and monitor the expansion and establishment of populations as they naturally recover across counties.
During the first year of Martens on the Move, we installed 24 den boxes across the six Monitoring Hubs and this year the team was especially excited for the breeding season and seeing the outcomes of our work from the previous year. At the beginning of the breeding season in April, with the help of volunteers, we installed trail cameras at all our new den boxes (including ten that were installed during the development phase) and continued the long-term monitoring at our flagship Mid Wales Monitoring Hub. In the summer, after these trail cameras were collected, the exciting part began…which was to review the footage. This can sometimes involve staring at a screen for a long time watching only a den box, but the rush of excitement when a pine marten (or multiple martens) appears on screen makes it all worthwhile. Seeing a pine marten elegantly climb a tree, jump between branches, or occasionally a mother teaching her kits how to climb, is truly special. Sometimes you have to watch the footage a couple of times before you actually believe your eyes.
A particularly memorable den box this year was one in our Mid Wales Monitoring Hub where the trail camera footage revealed a mother pine marten moving her three kits from the den box in a single morning. Pine martens will sometimes move their kits between dens if conditions change or they are disturbed. Nevertheless, this is still important data that helps us understand the species a little bit more.
With a further 42 den boxes installed this year, we are hoping there will be even more pine marten footage in 2026.
Engaging the public
Between all this work, the Martens on the Move Team still managed to talk to more than 1,400 people at conferences, volunteer sessions, VWT events and community engagement events, including the following.
- The Mammal Society Conference
- Great Big Green Week at Wallington (National Trust)
- Peebles Nature Festival
- Golden Eagle Festival
- Newport EcoFest
- Wales Biodiversity Partnership Conference
- Leintwardine Wildlife Group
- North of England Pine Marten Meeting
- British Forestry and Pine Martens Workshop
I particularly enjoyed helping to run a free family day at the Wentwood Haven Site for people supported by the Welsh Refugee Council in nearby Newport. A group of 25 refugees, including young children, teens and adults, came along and enjoyed guided walks of the beautiful woodland, engagement activities for the children, along with lunch and hot drinks. It was lovely to offer this experience for individuals who don’t usually have the chance to experience the Welsh countryside and woodlands, and to spend the day immersed in nature. The team is hoping to provide more family days like this at our other Haven sites!
We were delighted that an interview with Martens on the Move Project Manager, Dr Stephanie Johnstone, was filmed for a BBC Landward programme — a BBC Scotland series that focuses on rural life, wildlife and natural landscapes in Scotland. Stephanie spoke about the importance of den boxes to pine martens and demonstrated how they are installed. BBC Landward has a weekly audience of 250,000 people, which is a fantastic audience reach for Martens on the Move!
Looking forward to 2026
In 2026, Martens on the Move is certainly not slowing down! We will continue to install pine marten den boxes, monitor the species during the breeding season, carry out den box maintenance checks in the autumn, provide volunteer training sessions and attend community events. On top of this, we will continue to create an array of guidance documents with accompanying training videos to support our volunteers and others who contribute to pine marten conservation.
Additionally, Martens on the Move and VWT’s Communications Team is working with Dr Andrea Mapplebeck, education consultant with Formative Education, to produce curriculum-linked education resources on various aspects of pine martens. The resources will link to each of the curriculums in Wales, Scotland and England and will be available online for teachers and education providers during Term 6.
We’re looking forward to another exciting and jam-packed year of Martens on the Move, made possible by the players of the lottery.
Rowie Burcham, Martens on the Move Communications and Engagement Officer