If you hate beavers, you’re sorely misguided

The beaver is a key eco-systems engineer, writes Donnachadh McCarthy

From 1 October, the Eurasian beaver has been given protected native species status (Shutterstock)

In the middle of Liz Truss’s declaration of war on the scraps of nature left in Britain, this week marked a positive milestone for regeneration efforts.

From 1 October, the Eurasian beaver has been given protected native species status, following successful reintroductions over the last 20 years by various groups and individuals, into a small number of river basins. This follows its total UK extermination in the 17th century.

The beaver faced similar obliteration across mainland Europe due to the value of its fur and castoreum gland secretions, the latter of which was in great demand for perfumes.

It did manage to hang on in a few remote outposts, but by the beginning of the 20th century, there were only about 1,200 left. A concerted effort to save them from extinction then thankfully began.

The European wildlife comeback report, published last week, revealed that the European population now stands at an amazing 1,272,000 – a thousand-fold increase.

To mark the historic occasion of the beaver gaining legal protection, I spoke to Derek Gow, beaver pioneer, importer and author of Bringing Back the Beaver.

His book recounts the effort by many individuals over the last three decades to overcome government and institutional resistance to the reintroduction of this key native species.

Derek’s enthusiasm for not only the beaver itself, but for what its reintroduction can positively contribute to a whole host of other native species, was palpable across our Zoom call.

He waxed lyrical about the beaver being a key eco-systems engineer, as it fells trees and creates dams on small rivers and streams. This, in turn, creates new ponds and open spaces in riverside woods that a wide range of insects, amphibians, birds – and even mammals like otters – thrive in.

Humans benefit greatly from beaver reintroductions too; as their dams regulate river basin waterflows – slowing them down – thus protecting down-river towns and helping farmers by ensuring rivers do not dry out in droughts. They also store tonnes of carbon on their pond floors. Slowing storm surges, also protects agricultural soils and river banks from erosion.

Derek was adamant that this month’s historic protection was due to the tenacity of various individuals acting on their own initiative, by importing and trialling enclosed beaver reintroduction experiments, rather than governmental or institutional initiatives. But he did have kind words for the support by the National Trust, the Forestry Commission, Wildlife Trusts and especially for the Roy Dennis Foundation for Wildlife.

He praised the National Trust’s declaration that their lands will prioritise nature restoration, rather than industrial food production.

The Trust will be able to regenerate nature at a landscape level, something that rewilding projects have shown is crucial to halt species extinctions.

He said that Michael Gove – the former Secretary of State at Defra – and his keen interest in beaver reintroduction issues had been crucial in winning protected status.

As for what the greatest obstacles to the beavers’ reintroduction were: according to Derek, much of the frustration comes with bureaucracy and the statutory bodies who are supposed to be on nature’s side – including certain established conservationists who are concerned about notional impacts on populations of some threatened species.

Derek explains that it can take nearly a year to get a permit to move excess beavers from the river Tay, yet it takes a farmer only seconds to shoot one dead – despite the enormous benefits beaver reintroductions can bring to the rest of Scotland.

He is adamant that farmers must not be given the legal right to shoot beavers.

In his book, he argues against landowning organisations, saying they are “strident voices demanding of timid mandarins and weak politicians’ extreme actions against both humans and non-humans to support their own selfish ends”.

He suggests instead that any surplus beaver populations should be carefully moved to other river catchments, where their eco-engineering is sorely needed.

Last week, a number of wildlife organisations called on the UK government to instigate a national beaver reintroduction plan.

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

Having read the reintroduction saga in Derek’s book, I wondered why on earth they would potentially waste another decade seeking Defra’s support. Far better to fundraise and get on with leading such a programme themselves. A modest budget of about £5m would give a good kickstart to such a nationally transformative project.

With climate destruction bringing more extreme floods and droughts and with the UK’s biodiversity crisis still at red alert level, there is not a month to waste.

Beaver introductions are a win-win for other species, human farmers, urban dwellers and climate mitigation. Let’s go!