They were some of the country’s most resilient residents, creatures that shaped and nurtured our environment for millennia. Few animals could beat the beaver as a restorer of blighted landscapes, say scientists.
This ecological prowess means Castor fiber has a crucial role to play in helping the nation to revitalise its biodiversity and find solutions to the impacts of climate change, these researchers argue. However, they have become alarmed that a government scheme to reintroduce beavers across England is being held back by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
“Beavers can play a major role in restoring landscapes, cleaning up polluted waterways and helping the fortunes of other threatened species such as the water vole,” said Prof Richard Brazier of the University of Exeter. “Unfortunately, the government – which originally seemed keen on the idea – has been sitting on an agreed scheme to introduce them across England and seems to be refusing to take action.”
Beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain 400 years ago for fur, glands and meat, but were reintroduced, within fenced enclosures, in England and Wales several years ago. There have also been illegal releases at several sites around the country.
As a result, there are probably hundreds of beavers living wild along England’s waterways, say experts, while in Scotland – where releases have been actively encouraged by the government there – there are about 250 sites where beavers, now a protected species, have made homes.
“Beavers make dams and that is a crucial asset,” said Matt Holden, of Devon Wildlife Trust. “In the UK, we have lost more than 75% of our wetlands and beavers can bring some of that back – by building dams.”
This point has been demonstrated at one of the most carefully studied reintroduction projects. For eight years, scientists and conservationists have studied the impact of bringing Castor fiber back to the River Otter in Devon. The results have been striking.
Beavers build dams that cause stretches of land to flood. Access to their homes can be achieved only by swimming down to them, thus discouraging the attentions of their traditional terrestrial predators such as the wolf, lynx or bear. The habit has striking consequences.
As previously dry land flooded, insects such as crane flies and dragonflies returned. In their wake birds such as martins and swallows as well as bats have flown in to feed on them. At some sites, conservationists have seen 12 to 13 different species of bats arrive in the area thanks to the insect nutrition beavers generate.
“When you bring water back to a site, you bring in life from all directions,” said Prof Brazier, who is director of the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (Creww) at Exeter. “That input ranges from insects to large predators like white-tailed eagles. The beaver has an extraordinary impact.”
One particularly important beneficiary has been the water vole, a creature that has suffered a 90% drop in numbers in the UK since the 1970s. Feral mink, which kill young voles in their nests, and land use changes caused widespread eradication. “Where beavers create their complex wetland habitats, water voles are better able to evade mink predators and thrive,” said Brazier.
As these benefits of beavers became clearer, discussions began between conservationists, Natural England and Defra. In 2021, it was agreed it would be environmentally sensible to reintroduce beavers more widely across England. Then, a year ago, it was decided to give legal protection to prevent them being killed by hunters.
“It was all looking good. The trouble is that since then, we have heard nothing from Defra,” said Holden. “We have agreed that there are real benefits in releasing beavers in widespread but controlled ways across England but we cannot actually carry that out. Defra has made it clear on its website that this is still not allowed. It is very disappointing.”
The department’s continued refusal to support widespread releases has triggered concerns among conservationiststhat the government is backing out of its support and may even drop legal protection for beavers, a point stressed by Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics.
“There is a clear need to bring back the beaver to Britain to help us manage the growing impacts of climate change such as flooding, droughts and wildfires,” he said. “Unfortunately the environment secretary is delaying the decision on allowing their licensed release into the wild. Indeed she even seems to be considering a potentially disastrous removal of beavers’ protected status, a further sign that this government is weak on environmental issues.”
This point was backed by Holden. “In 2021, Natural England suggested that a favourable population status for beavers would be around 5,200 family groups. We are miles away from achieving this goal. Defra don’t appear to have a clear strategy and this is preventing us from realising the significant benefits that beavers could bring to nature and society.”
A spokesperson for Defra said: “We are continuing to work with Natural England to develop our approach to the reintroduction of beaver in England.”