The People and Pine Martens in Wales (PPMW) project was a two year project, run during 2013 and 2014, which set out to address aspects of the national, stakeholder endorsed strategy for restoring the pine marten population in England and Wales.

The project was implemented by The Vincent Wildlife Trust in collaboration with The Co-operative Wales, which provided funding through the Welsh Government’s voluntary carrier bag levy scheme introduced to Welsh Co-operative stores. The aims of running the project were to: increase awareness of pine martens as a native Welsh mammal; actively engage more people in conservation; enhance habitat for pine marten by providing den boxes for breeding; increase understanding of future opportunities for pine marten conservation, and gather further information in general to help the wider pine marten conservation strategy.

The project was a resounding success, achieving and exceeding the goals highlighted above. The findings of the project have directly fed into our current Pine Marten Recovery Project. Particular aspects such as the public opinion survey, and habitat modelling conducted in PPMW, comprise key chapters in a an externally peer reviewed feasibility report which has provided us with a solid foundation for our future reinforcement work. Work which we hope will ultimately see the recovery of the pine marten in southern Britain.

Photo: Pine marten ©Terry Whittaker