Beavers should be reintroduced in wild 'carefully'

Beavers have been described as a keystone species which means they are essential to keeping the world around them working and thriving

An ecologist gave a warning after wildlife charities called for beavers to be released into rivers across England and Wales.

The Wildlife Trust said beavers were a "keystone" species which could bring huge benefits to nature if the government backed plans to reintroduce them in the wild.

However, Sarah Brockless, principal ecologist at the Spains Hall Estate in Finchingfield, said many things needed to be considered before beavers were released and they should be reintroduced "very carefully".

In 2019, the estate in Essex worked with the Environment Agency to release the first pair of beavers in East Anglia for more than 400 years.

The Wildlife Trust published a report on Thursday calling for mammals to be released into the wild because they could combat the climate crisis and help water quality.

However, Ms Brockless warned situations could arise if the freed beavers felled landowners' trees or flooded high-value crops.

"At the moment we have three very large [beaver] enclosures on Spains Hall Estate and they are used as an actual flood management tool and they prevent Finchingfield from being flooded, which is fantastic," she said.

"By keeping them contained they are a fantastic tool for management but then they don't then cause conflict in the community."

Ms Brockless said she does not oppose the proposed plan but said beavers will need to be introduced back into society "very carefully."

'Right way'

"The last beaver record in England was in 1780, so we have been living without beavers for quite a while," she added.

"Our infrastructure and our housing, our draining system has all developed without beavers.

"So when you reintroduce beavers back into the landscape and we start to live with them as a community, there are a lot of things to consider.

Ms Brockless continued: "Beavers are very robust species they will set up home pretty much anywhere.

"There needs to be financial and practical support for communities for landowners and land managers across the country in order to reintroduce beavers in the right way and in the right location and that has to be very carefully considered."

"You don't want to introduce beavers to then change an area of habitat that could actually be good for a different species that could be quite rare."