Back in August last year, The Wildlife Trusts published A vision for the return of beavers to England and Wales - outlining the case for bringing back this vital keystone species to rivers across both nations. 

Beavers are proven to have a hugely beneficial impact on wetlands and can also play an important role in flood prevention and alleviation, filtering water supplies and enhancing habitat for other wildlife.  

It is now well over three years since the government department responsible for protecting and improving the environment, Defra, opened its beaver consultation and more than two years since beavers, so long absent from our landscape due to hunting, were recognised in law as a native species in England. Despite these steps, and many successful reintroductions into fenced enclosures – including our own project at Idle Valley Nature Reserve near Retford - the UK Government has repeatedly failed to put the steps in place that are needed for them to return to the wild.  

Key steps include the issuing of licences for beavers to be returned to the wild in England and the release of strategic plans to facilitate beaver reintroduction. Despite previous indications from the previous government that wild releases would be authorised, we are yet to see it happen. 

The Wildlife Trusts’ vision clarifies how the release of beavers into the wild – in preference to current fenced enclosures - will enable beavers to once again be a key part of our native ecology. As well as being a rightful return, this would also provide a welcome boost for our beleaguered wetlands by unleashing the power of beavers as natural wetland engineers capable of restoring wildlife habitat, breathing new life into our river systems and delivering a wealth of benefits to society.

These benefits are well documented but despite the success of projects such as ours at the Idle Valley Nature Reserve,  the reintroduction of this vital keystone species has sadly stalled. The Trust is committed to utilising natural processes to enhance the wildlife habitats across the vast hectares at Idle Valley Nature Reserve, which sits alongside the River Idle. The beaver project is just one initiative to make the site wilder and more resilient to the impacts of climate change. 

The beavers at Idle Valley Nature Reserve continue to transform a large part of their 58-hectare enclosure, helping a range of species from wading birds to amphibians and dragonflies. Evidence shows that beavers help improve water quality, boost habitat and moderate the flow of water in times of flood and drought. As we face up to the climate and nature crises, we need all the help we can get and need beavers back in the wild as we look to tackle environmental challenges. 

At the Idle Valley, the number of beavers in our enclosure continues to grow thanks to successful breeding by the reintroduced adults. Back in October, we announced that we’d once again captured footage of beaver kits on the trail cameras installed to monitor the group. As the numbers increase, their positive impact on the wetland habitat continues to expand. The long-term aspiration for the beaver reintroduction is to improve habitats for other species, especially the wild fowl and wading birds that are central to the reserve’s designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.  

The beavers have cleared areas within an old aspen plantation, which will enable the development of a far richer ground flora, and their chewing and gnawing action has naturally coppiced willows close to the water and within the reedbed. As the coppiced willows regenerate, the bushy regrowth will provide great habitat for species such as blackcap, willow warbler and wren. Their activity also opens up new channels for wildfowl, bittern and other birds. By creating a more diverse wetland habitat, the beaver’s activity should also support the recently reintroduced water voles at the reserve – giving them more chance of resisting pressure from non-native mink. In some parts of the enclosure the beavers have ‘ring-barked’ a number of sizeable trees, which the Trust hopes will develop into standing deadwood, one of the rarest habitats on the reserve and which is essential for declining species such as lesser spotted woodpecker, willow tit and tree-dwelling bats.  

Although beavers were hunted to extinction in England and Wales as far back as the 12th century – since 2001 the Wildlife Trusts have pioneered the reintroduction of beavers to Britain since Kent Wildlife Trust released these industrious ecosystem engineers into a fenced area of fenland. Two decades later, in 2021, beavers were brought back to Nottinghamshire in the Trust’s most ambitious species focused project to date. This couldn’t have been achieved without the support of Severn Trent, Nottingham Trent University, partners such as Natural England, the EA and the Beaver Trust, and of course generous individual donors – but together, The Wildlife Trusts, have a greater long-term ambition - to see beavers established back in the wild.  

The UK and Welsh Governments need to recognise that beavers are here to stay. By embracing the huge positives they deliver, wider society would be able to reap the rewards of their presence. In areas such as Devon, in addition to boosting wildlife habitat, the presence of beavers has boosted tourism and local businesses too. 

Bringing back wild beavers

To deliver against the ambition of bringing wild beavers back, The Wildlife Trusts have called on the UK and Welsh Governments to publish an ambitious beaver reintroduction strategy; fund farmers and land managers to make more space for water on their land; support beaver management groups; confirm all existing wild beavers can remain in England and Wales and recognise the beaver as a native species in Wales with the legal protection they require.  

The Wildlife Trusts are committed to working with authorities and local communities to support successful wild beaver releases across England and Wales – a commitment that aligns with the UK Government’s target to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030. The Wildlife Trusts wish to work with partners and stakeholders to ensure that Beaver Management Groups are able to ensure that people and beavers can live in harmony.  

Wild beavers belong in our landscape, but in the face of unprecedented environmental challenges, it is also the obvious and sensible thing to do.