Bringing Back Beavers

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Conker Nature Magazine if I would be able to write an article for them, about the beaver reintroductions in Britain. The editor is a friend from college and likes my writing on here. We didn't have any college assignments to do, so I said yes! 

I knew almost nothing about the reintroductions, so I really enjoyed researching and writing the article. As I mention in it, it's easy to find information on beavers and their benefits, so I focused on the story of the reintroductions themselves, which was really interesting. (I would like to write a post on here soon, though, about beavers and the importance of wetland habitats in general.) It was also quite nice, as an overthinker and perfectionist who usually spends an extraordinarily long time writing blog posts and college reports, to be given a specific topic to write about, and a deadline of just a week. It still took a long time, though, haha.

Anyway, the article was published two weeks ago in Conker Nature's February 2022 edition, to mark the one-year anniversary of Natural England basically giving the green light to future beaver reintroductions. I was so chuffed to be asked and it's really cool to have my writing published in a magazine - thanks again to the editor for the opportunity! I was sent a digital copy of the final "tearsheets", the pages with my article on, and have kindly been allowed to share the article text on here too :)

You can find out more about Conker Nature on the website linked above, Like/Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, and, if you're interested, purchase print, digital, or print and digital copies of all issues of the magazine at MagCloud.com. I hope you enjoy the article!

Bringing Back Beavers

Many of us grew up associating beavers with North America, not knowing they were once an integral part of British landscapes too. The Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber, was hunted to extinction in Britain in the 16th century, prized for its fur, meat, and the oil from its scent glands which was used in perfumes and medicine. Reintroductions have been going on in Europe for around a century after the population dropped to just 1200 individuals, but we are finally catching up, and the last two decades have seen efforts to bring these amazing rodents back to our island.

It is very easy to find information on what beavers are and the benefits they bring, so I won't go into that here. Instead I'd like to tell the story of the reintroductions themselves. It started in Scotland. After the European Habitats Directive 1992 encouraged Member States to consider the reintroduction of extinct species, in 1995 Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) began feasibility studies. They looked at the historical evidence of beavers there, suitable habitat sites, appropriate sources from populations on the Continent, possible beaver movements across the landscape, and their potential impacts. The first licence application for a trial reintroduction in 2005 was rejected, but this led to the Scottish Wildlife Trust becoming more involved and joining forces with the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland, and in 2008 a licence was granted. In May 2009 three families of Eurasian beavers from Norway, 11 animals in total, were released in separate locations across Knapdale Forest in Argyll, beginning the five-year Scottish Beaver Trial.

In the meantime, wild beavers had also mysteriously appeared in eastern Scotland, on the River Tay in Perthshire. In 2012 the Scottish Government decided to allow them to stay for the remaining duration of the Scottish Beaver Trial, and set up the Tayside Beaver Study Group to monitor them. It would then take the findings of both studies into account and make a decision on the future of all beavers in Scotland.

South of the border, beavers have been living wild again in England since around 2008, when they were spotted on the River Otter in south-east Devon. As on the River Tay, these were of unknown origin. When kits were seen in 2014, the UK Government intended to capture and remove all the beavers there to stop further breeding and spreading, but, backed by huge public support, the Devon Wildlife Trust stepped in with a plan for a five-year trial reintroduction, which was approved. Once the animals had been caught and tested to confirm they were of Eurasian origin and healthy, they were returned to the river in 2015 - and the River Otter Beaver Trial began.

Estuary of the River Otter. (Photo mine, not used in the article.)

There have also been around a dozen licensed releases onto enclosed sites around England and Wales, in efforts to help restore vital wetland habitats and improve biodiversity. As early as 2002, Kent Wildlife Trust were the first to import, quarantine, and release two families of Eurasian beavers into a 30-hectare enclosure on one of their nature reserves to help restore the south-east's last remaining fenland habitat at Ham Fen. In 2011 a pair were released into a 3-hectare enclosure on private land in Devon, followed by Cornwall in 2017, Essex in 2019, and Cheshire, Cumbria, the Knepp Estate in Sussex, and the National Trust Holnicote Estate in Somerset in 2020. And in 2021 beavers were released in Dorset, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, a National Trust location in the South Downs, and for the first time in Wales at Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust's Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve.

There are of course conflicts and opposition, particularly with the wild beaver trials. Beaver activities may damage vegetation or cause flooding, affecting agricultural and forestry crops. Although they are herbivores and don't eat fish, their dams may prevent upstream migration of species like salmon and trout and affect fisheries. Their creation of wetlands can cause concern of increased flood risk, or flood risk to new areas. Their underground burrows can erode riverbanks. And they could carry and spread disease. Of course people are going to be concerned about potential socio-economic and public health issues. Plus, we humans don't like change very much, and in 500 years we've forgotten not only how to live alongside these animals but also that we once did. Our landscapes are vastly different to what they were when beavers were last here, and there are tens of millions more people. 

The wild beaver trials rigorously monitored every possible aspect: the ecology and health of the beavers themselves; the local populations of otters, fish, dragonflies and damselflies, and other fauna; the woodland, loch, and river habitats they inhabited; hydrology; water chemistry; scheduled ancient monuments; socio-economics including agriculture and forestry; and public health risks. The vast amount of information gathered by the Scottish Beaver Trial and the Tayside Beaver Study Group were summarised in Scottish Natural Heritage's 2015 "Beavers in Scotland" report.

After reviewing the report, in 2016 the Scottish Government made the landmark decision that the beaver populations in Knapdale and Tayside could stay. They would be allowed to expand their range naturally, though careful management was needed to minimise negative impacts, and the government would work towards securing European Protected Species status for beavers in Scotland. In 2017 the three-year Scottish Beaver Reinforcement Project began, to strengthen the Knapdale population with further releases from different genetic backgrounds. In 2019 the Protected Species status was granted, meaning it is illegal to kill beavers or destroy their dams or lodges, although culls when difficulties cannot be mitigated or managed another way are permitted under license. The most recent NatureScot figures estimated the beaver population in Scotland to be somewhere between 600 and 1380, mainly in the Tay and Forth catchments.

In England, the UK Government hailed the success of the River Otter Beaver Trial in 2020, particularly the impact on the local ecology and flood risk reduction, and likewise allowed the beavers to stay, roam free, and expand their range subject to management. At that point there were 15 beaver families across the river's catchment. In 2021 Natural England published their recommendations for future licensed reintroductions into the wild, namely that they should be done at a measured pace to allow habitats, species, and people to adapt and time for problems to be resolved.

Reintroducing beavers to Britain has been a resounding success. While it may be nice to think that this is due to the charisma and good work of the animals themselves, it is to the outstanding work of the countless people involved that we owe our thanks. From Wildlife Trusts to government bodies, university research teams to local government environmental health departments, farmers, fishermen, local community members, partners in Europe, landowners, enthusiasts, skeptics, and more. We have a habit of simplifying and overlooking how much work things take, but I hope I have given you a better idea of just how much has gone into these reintroduction efforts. As the climate and biodiversity crisis continues, the wetlands that beavers create are vitally needed - for storage of carbon and water, flood mitigation, and as habitat for species under pressure - and this work must continue. These trials have paved the way and left us with excellent guidelines to use going forward. Hopefully as time goes on we will see wild beaver numbers grow in new areas of the country - and maybe a glimpse of the wonderful creatures occasionally too.