{"id":4455,"date":"2023-10-27T13:19:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T12:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theeuropeannaturetrust.com\/?p=4455"},"modified":"2023-10-27T15:49:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T14:49:12","slug":"the-press-gets-a-dose-of-beaver-fever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theeuropeannaturetrust.com\/the-press-gets-a-dose-of-beaver-fever\/","title":{"rendered":"The press get a dose of beaver fever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In September, TENT in partnership with The Beaver Trust, facilitated a press trip from Edinburgh to Inverness. Journalists and influencers travelled to various sites across Scotland to see beavers first hand, and gain insights from experts involved in beaver conservation. Here\u2019s TENT\u2019s Outreach Manager, Kate Heightman\u2019s report on the trip.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First, a wee bit of history of beavers in Scotland<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Scotland is pioneering the recovery of beavers in Britain and is currently the sole country where beavers are free-living in the wild.  Approval is still being sought for their release in Wales, and they can only be translocated into enclosures in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beavers benefit nature and people in many ways. As \u2018ecosystem engineers\u2019 their activities can create wetland habitats, improve habitat structure and variety, and enhance biodiversity. They can also alleviate flooding, improve water quality, and bring socio-economic benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beavers create intricate wetland environments and increase the biomass and diversity of vegetation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Beaver dams influence water courses, slowing their flow and providing natural flood defences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In May 2008, the Scottish Government gave permission to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland<\/a> and the Scottish Wildlife Trust<\/a> for a scientifically monitored, trial reintroduction of European beavers to Knapdale Forest.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They then announced in November 2016 that beavers could remain in Scotland. This decision provided for the return of a species that was part of our wildlife for thousands of years before becoming extinct here around the 16th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beavers finally gained European protected species status in Scotland on 1st May 2019, with the view from the government that the species should be allowed to expand its range naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Management and mitigation of beaver activity<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In some places and situations, the activities of beavers can be seen to have negative impacts on other interests such as farms, gardens, or other land. Sometimes this can simply be managed to prevent damage, such as by fencing vulnerable areas or protecting individual trees. Other actions, like the removal of more mature dams, manipulating dams or undertaking lethal control, can only be carried out under licence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beaver Trust, along with Nature Scot, can provide free expert advice to help people experiencing problems, and where possible will provide measures to minimise damage through the beaver mitigation scheme, where beavers are trapped and translocated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beaver Trust facilities at Five Sisters Zoo, Edinburgh<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

This is where the Beaver Trust\u2019s vital impact on reintroduction begins, with Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer leading the Restoration team. Beavers that have been implicated in land-use conflict are trapped and brought to Five Sisters Zoo<\/a> for quarantining.  Here we heard that they undergo a series of checks for parasites and diseases, and overall health.  Once they have been through this process, they can be approved for translocation to sites where landowners are carrying out nature restoration and want to reintroduce beavers as part of this work. We were lucky enough to see a family of the endearing rodents at the facility, that have since been successfully released in Ealing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A successful release site<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Argaty Farm<\/a>, where Red Kites reintroduced on the neighbouring farm first successfully bred in 1998, is now also home to red squirrels, and a family of beavers released in 2021. After a tour with landowner and beaver enthusiast, Tom Bowser, we settled quietly beside a pond where the beavers spend the day hidden in their lodge. To our delight, as dusk fell, the beavers emerged and swam around in the water trying to make out what who the strangers watching them were. Finally, we were treated to a tail splash, which the beavers use to spook or scare away potential threats and predators \u2013 we took the hint!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-term benefits of beavers<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Beavers colonised an area around Mill Dam, above Dunkeld, about twenty years ago, so their activity here is very well established.  They have created a complex network of canals, dams and ponds, to enable them to move around safely and forage for food.  Their favourite fodder is willow, which they manage like coppice, cutting and bending stems to encourage fresh shoots. It\u2019s easy to imagine that humans began to copy this activity to produce wood for weapons and building \u2013 an early example of biomimicry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wetland habitat created by the busy engineers supports many different invertebrates, amphibians and fish, that then provide food for birds and other mammals, improving biodiversity.  The beavers\u2019 efforts also store water, lessening the impact of droughts, and slowing flows, mitigating flooding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life on the water<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In Kenmore, we met Duncan Pepper, a local fishing guide and beaver ambassador who is adamant that these aquatic animals can play a vital role in safeguarding the future of the Atlantic salmon in Scotland through their habitat management efforts. We set off down the river Tay on two rafts, for a beavers\u2019 eye view of the riverbanks.  We saw how human interventions to control the river can worsen the impact of the more extreme weather we are experiencing as a result of climate change. Less than two weeks later the Tay flooded very badly after a bout of intense rain, illustrating how vulnerable the catchment now is to such events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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