The UK has one of the worst records of any country in the world for protecting its historic biodiversity. This should come as no surprise to those of us who live on this crazy, crowded island where caring for the natural world has traditionally played second fiddle to making a quick buck. But the tide is beginning to turn: up and down the country many of us are fighting back, seeking to look after what we still have and, where possible, to reintroduce what we have lost. Which brings me to the inspiring story of Derbyshire’s beavers.
PHOTO CREDIT: “Bever. The Eurasian beaver or European beaver (Castor fiber)” by NTNU, Faculty of Natural Sciences is licensed under CC BY 2.0
If the experts are to be believed, beavers were wiped out in my home county around 800 years ago. Now I’m not sure quite how they know that, I can’t quite believe that one of the local lords recorded the event for posterity in his diary, writing something like “Great news, just exterminated the last beaver in Derbyshire, so now our trees will be safe forever…until, that is, we want to chop them down for firewood, or to make floorboards or beer barrels or whatever.”
To be honest, the exact date doesn’t really matter. The incontestable fact is that, following the end of the last Ice Age, beavers were common hereabouts for many thousand of years, before becoming extinct in the Middle Ages.
VIDEO CREDIT: Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Film of the first beaver being released at Willington Wetland Nature Reserve on a blustery day in late September 2021
On one level, the extinction of the beaver can be seen simply as the regrettable loss of one of this island’s few cuddly mammals, a mammal guaranteed to elicit sighs of “Ah, so cute” from ordinary folk encountering them going about their daily business in the wild. But there’s more to it than that. Beavers are landscape engineers, a keystone species that shapes environmental conditions in a manner beneficial to countless other species.
By digging canal systems and damming water courses, beavers create diverse wetland areas, places where fish can safely spawn and other animals such as otters, water voles and water shrews can make their homes. Insects thrive in the waterways constructed and maintained by beavers, and these in turn nourish a range of bird species. In creating suitable habitats for themselves, therefore, beavers help create robust ecosystems in which a whole range of species can flourish.
But it’s not just wildlife that benefits from these hefty rodents beavering away in the countryside – there’s a payoff for humans too. It is argued that beaver dams improve water-quality by acting as filters which trap soil and other pollutants washed into rivers from surrounding farmland. The ponds created by beaver dams also impact on the flow of rivers, and can help mitigate downstream flooding after periods of heavy rain.
VIDEO CREDIT: (c) Helen Birkinshaw via Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. On Friday 8th October, the day after the second pair of beavers were released, the male was spotted swimming near the release site
Given these credentials it’s no surprise that environmental organisations have long been keen to see beavers reintroduced to the UK. Scotland led the way, and there are spots there where animals reintroduced from continental Europe are already thriving. In England the first major reintroduction initiative was in Devon, led by Devon Wildlife Trust in partnership with a range of other interested parties.
Having watched for several years the success of beaver reintroductions in other parts of the country, Mrs P and I were thrilled when our local conservation organisation – Derbyshire Wildlife Trust – announced its own plans for a project at the Willington Wetlands Nature Reserve in the south of the county. When the Trust appealed for donations to help fund the initiative we were pleased to help.
Progress stalled for a while due to disruption caused by the Covid pandemic. But at last, a few weeks ago, we got an email from the Trust inviting us to sign up to attend an online event at which a pair of beavers would be released into their new Derbyshire home. The animals had been captured on the River Tay in Scotland, where the species is now doing very well. After a period of quarantine and some health checks the beavers were transported to Derbyshire in special wooden crates on the back of a pick up truck.
VIDEO CREDIT: Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Camera trap footage of one of the beavers snacking on a branch. Plainly the beavers have already begun to modify the local landscape!
The release of the two animals went perfectly. We’d feared they would dash for the water the second the doors of their crates were opened, and immediately dive to disappear from view. Instead they took their time, seemingly untroubled by the stress of their long road journey, and put on a bit of a show for their adoring online fans. Huddled around our laptop at home, it was a privilege to watch the images of history being made just a few short miles away. At last, after an absence of some 800 years, beavers were back in Derbyshire!
A couple of weeks later the Trust released a second pair of beavers into their enclosure at the Willington Wetlands Nature Reserve, The enclosure is surrounded by a specially designed beaver-proof fence and large enough at 40 hectares, or just shy of 100 acres, to allow the animals to live entirely natural lives. The brook flowing through the enclosure guarantees a suitable wetland habitat, and a wide range of native plants and trees will offer the beavers all the food they need to live long and happy lives.
With a bit of luck, next year we will be celebrating the first beavers to be born in Derbyshire since the Middle Ages!
VIDEO CREDIT: Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. More camera trap footage. The Willington Reserve’s newest residents seem relaxed, and are making themselves at home!
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For further information on the reintroduction of beavers in the UK see the following links
- The Beaver Trust “is a nature restoration charity run by a small team of environmentalists and supported by a growing network of beaver believers, working to bring beavers back home to Britain and make space for nature in this time of ecological and climate crisis.”
- Dam fine: estate owners across UK queue up to reintroduce beavers. [Article in The Guardian, February 2020]
- Beavers cut flooding and pollution and boost wildlife populations [Article in The Guardian, February 2020]
- Record number of beavers to be released in Britain this year [Article in The Guardian, February 2021]
- Wild beaver numbers surge to 1,000 across Scotland’s southern Highlands [Article in The Guardian, August 2021]
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Wonderful! Actually brought tears to my eyes I was so happy for them.
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I totally understand. I felt really emotional watching them being released from the crates and starting to explore their new home. Back where they belong, at last!
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Fingers and toes crossed for many beaverettes
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Yes, the patter of tiny feet (and the splash of tiny tails!) can’t come too soon.
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Yes, yes! What a wonderful piece. Long may the beavers and their descendants thrive.
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Thank you! It’s great to be able to share a ‘good news’ story in these troubled times.
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You bet! Go, beavers, go! We have some who live in a pond near our house.
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It will be interesting to see how they settle in and their effect on the environment
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Agreed. The environmental impact is being closely monitored so that conservationists can learn lessons about how best to manage the impact of this, and future, beaver reintroductions.
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The U.S. has its ups and downs protecting our native animals, along with flora, and if one threatens the economy away it goes. Sadly, beavers were almost hunted to extinction for their pelts as well as property owners killing them over flooding, along with many bird species for pies or ladies’ millinery, but the citizenry has fought to protect as many as possible and the beavers are back along with the long plumed birds such as egrets. Regrettably, passenger pigeons were baked into pies and out of existence.
Congratulations on beavers being reintroduced and hopefully they will be fruitful and multiply.
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Yes, we’ve been pleased to catch a few glimpses of beavers in the US. Although the demand for beaver pelts (particularly here in the UK) is credited for giving impetus to the opening of the West in North America, the impact on the species was terrible. Luckily things look a bit better now. Regarding egrets, we had a similar experience in this country, with the birds being driven to extinction to furnish ladies with feathers to adorn their hats. Fortunately the species survived in parts of continental Europe, and now that fashions have changed and conservation laws brought in they are making a comeback (naturally, without any need for humans to get involved in the process). Given a chance , Nature will always fight back!
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It is so interesting to read this! Last summer we saw a lot of beavers’ work – the cut down trees around the lake and Missouri River here (We didn’t go to the Katy Trail as much often this year). These smart animals used the trees to built the dams and lodges. But I was not lucky to see any beaver swimming. I am very curious about the British beavers😉
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Thank you. During our trips to the US we’ve seen evidence of the presence of beavers on several occasions – in particular beaver lodges – but only one brief glimpse of the animal itself, when one scuttled across the road in front of our car. It was quite a shock!
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It’s good to hear about something so hopeful and positive. I hope that the beavers settle in and produce big, healthy families… 🙂
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Yes, we are hoping for a happy event next year!
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Aw it’s good news about the beavers. There have been some released in the Eden Valley of Cumbria too on the Lowther Estate. Exciting times. 🙂
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Yes, there are several beaver reintroduction initiatives across the country now. Very uplifting, I think.
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Yay! Good luck to the new beavers of Derbyshire!
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I think they’ll be very happy in their new home!
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Great to hear that they’re back! I visited the beaver site in Devon a few years ago. I’m used to seeing all their woodwork in Canada and Poland and it was quite something to see it in the south-west.
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We’re hoping to head out west within the next year or two and we’ll definitely visit the Devon site at some point during our trip, though I guess the chance of actually seeing a beaver (in daylight!) is fairly remote. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
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Good news indeed, Mr. P. Thank you for sharing this inspiring story and the video clips. I’m seconding your good wishes for the beavers’ survival and successful propagation.
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Thank you Tanja. This is one of a number of beaver reintroduction projects in England right now, including another in our neighbouring county of Nottinghamshire. Prospects for the future of the species in England are definitely encouraging.
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Let’s hope their comeback will be successful!
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