The UK Government has announced that it will allow licensed reintroductions of beavers into the wild and acknowledge the free-living populations found in several parts of England.
It's hoped that the Eurasian beaver, which was once hunted to extinction, will help create wetlands, increase biodiversity and reduce flood risk across England.
Natural England will grant licences to release beavers within the year, with wild releases expected as early as autumn 2025.
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According to government data, only 14% of rivers in the UK are in good ecological condition. Beavers are natural ecosystem engineers, retaining as well as releasing water, filtering pollution and creating the conditions for an explosion of wetland and river wildlife.
It's expected that the first release of wild beavers will happen at Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve, with a licence issued to the National Trust.
Releases will be carefully managed to avoid impacts on farming, food production and infrastructure – and new wild release projects will need a 10-year plan in order to apply for a licence.
Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, said: “Beavers have been missing from our landscapes for about four hundred years and this careful approach for their planned return is a significant landmark for Nature recovery in England.
“Beavers are environmental engineers. The dams, ponds and canals they build not only create amazingly rich habitats for many other species, but can also help reduce flood risk, purify water and catch carbon.
“Under licence from Natural England, the release of wild beavers will be managed to secure the long-term environmental benefits while seeking to minimise and avoid unwanted impacts.”
Wild and enclosed releases
In recent years, beavers have been returning to the UK's waterways through licensed releases into enclosures, as well limited trials of wild releases.
The very first beavers were legally released into Scotland in 2009 through a partnership between Scottish Wildlife Trust, Zoological Society of Scotland and what is now Forestry Land Scotland.
In England, a successful beaver reintroduction trial was initially carried out in Devon between 2015 and 2020. Since then, Wildlife Trusts have built large enclosures to house beavers and test their return to Britain.
However, illegal beaver releases mean they can be found in many more sites across the UK.
Pete Burgess, director of nature recovery at Devon Wildlife Trust, says: “Beavers are nature’s aquatic engineers and a force of nature. They have unrivalled capacity to breathe new life into our threatened rivers and wetlands.
“Our 14 year partnership with the University of Exeter has revealed the pivotal role wild beavers play in nature’s recovery and providing multiple benefits that society needs – including significant reduction in the most damaging flood peaks, drought resilience, improved water quality, and carbon sequestration.
“The beavers in Devon have inspired communities to take action for nature and have boosted tourist visits. I’ve had the privilege of experiencing how wildlife thrives with the return of beavers and wish everyone to have this opportunity in their lives.”
Long-term campaign
The return of beavers has been campaigned for by wildlife and conservation groups for decades.
The UK's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) ran a public beaver consultation in 2022, which revealed overwhelming support for reintroducing the species.
In October 2022 the government changed English law to make them a native species and they gained legal protection, making it an offence to deliberately capture, injure, kill or disturb them or damage and destroy their breeding sites or resting places without a licence.
It followed Scotland’s decision to make beavers a protected species in 2019.
Wales still lacks legislation to protect beavers, although the government announced in September 2024 that it supports moving towards their managed reintroduction to the country.
Support for landowners
Natural England has developed a licensing and application process, which is defined by a five step management approach, to make sure that landowners are supported.
The government will also begin work on developing a long-term beaver management plan in England with input from key stakeholders.
Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Now that the first step has been taken to letting beavers be free, we need to see sufficient advice, support, and funding earmarked for landowners to help them facilitate beavers on their land and manage the resulting changes to landscapes.”
Main image credit: Wildlife Trusts/Mike Symes
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