A WILDLIFE project is seeking public support to help it make the vital next step in its pioneering work to bring back a lost woodland animal – the pine marten.

In September pine martens were successfully released into woodlands on Dartmoor. Fifteen animals (eight females and seven males) were brought from healthy populations in Scotland. The story caught the public imagination making news headlines as far away as Australia and North America.

The reintroduction was the work of a partnership of conservation groups including Dartmoor National Park Authority, Devon Wildlife Trust, Exmoor National Park Authority, Forestry England, the National Trust, Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Woodland Trust.

Fundamental to the project’s success has been the support received from local people. The Two Moors Pine Marten Project has worked with more than 80 volunteers who together have donated 1,800 hours of their time undertaking tasks as diverse as pine marten den box building and tracking the animals’ movements using GPS and VHF collars placed on the pine martens.

Now the project is appealing to the public to help it make the most of a unique funding opportunity called the Big Give Christmas Challenge. This promises to double whatever people choose to donate. However, the special offer lasts just seven days.

Donations to the Two Moors Pine Marten Project via the Big Give Christmas Challenge are open until Tuesday December 10. Donating is easy via the Devon Wildlife Trust website homepage www.devonwildlifetrust.org

Devon Wildlife Trust’s Tracey Hamston is the Two Moors Pine Marten Project Lead. Tracey said: “The Big Give Christmas Challenge is a wonderful opportunity to double the impact of every donation.

“Every pound raised during the challenge will be matched, ensuring that the money goes twice as far. Funds raised will equip the project’s volunteers with the tools and resources they need, support our work with local communities, and cover crucial preparations for the next stage of this project – bringing pine martens back to our woods.

“We’re really pleased with the pine martens’ progress since their releases in September. Over the past weeks the project has been keeping track of their movements. Some individuals have been more elusive than others, but this is to be expected as pine martens are solitary and secretive animals which live at low densities spread out across large areas. However, we’re confident that the animals are now busy exploring the woods of Devon.”

“With the help of volunteers, project partners and landowners we’re continuing to make plans for improving habitat for our new woodland neighbours. One of our current tasks is to provide den boxes in woodland sites which contain fewer natural denning sites. These will also be a useful monitoring tool and the boxes may also act as maternity dens when the females give birth next March. These will be the first pine martens to be born in Devon for more than a century.

Support through the Big Give will be used to help us do this vital work and to prepare for the project’s next stage.”

In 2025 the project plans a similar release of pine marten into to the wild on Exmoor. Ali North is the Two Moors Pine Marten Project Field Officer for Exmoor.

“Next year promises to be an exciting one as we coordinate the project’s second release of animals,” she said “We’ll be spending the next months continuing to talk and engage with local partners on Exmoor, listening to their views and ideas around pine marten reintroduction. We’ll also be working alongside our project partners to make sure we choose the best and most suitable woodlands for the animals.”

People interested learning more about the Two Moors Pine Marten Project will discover lots more information at www.twomoorspinemartens.org There they can also find a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions, as well as contact details for the project.