In February, it was announced that beavers were to be reintroduced to British ecosystems. In March, the first beavers were set free in English waterways in Dorset, brought down from the Tay Catchment area in Scotland.  The beaver population in England is as low as five hundred, a number that has dwindled due to centuries of over-hunting.   

Beavers represent a missing piece in the English ecosystem. The creatures are known as woodland engineers, dramatically changing the environments around them through damming rivers and streams. This often results in the formation of habitats where other creatures can flourish, as well as in the reduction of flooding downstream. This reintroduction was carried out in the hopes that the beaver population will grow, and that the next generation of beavers will fill in this gap in our ecosystems.   

Not everyone has ‘beaver fever’. The National Farmers Union is concerned about flooding of crop fields and the disruption to their livelihoods. The decision was made by the government after years of trialing, and the beavers will be released under a licensing system in coalition with ‘Natural England’. The NFU wants the right to cull beaver populations should they pose a risk to their fields and farms.   

Scotland is an interesting model for this move toward re-wilding or natural conservation; their efforts to repopulate beaver populations have resulted in a beaver population of over 1500. The beavers released in Dorset were taken from an area in Scotland of rapid re-population; in other areas the growth has been so significant that there have been similar relocation efforts, or even culling. The release of beavers in Dorset is a big moment for the Beaver Trust, who say they are ‘looking forward to new wild sites being proposed’. This move toward re-wilding begs the question: which other animals are due for reintroduction into English ecosystems?  

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