What will beavers mean for the South East?

Beavers will live wild again in England for the first time in 400 years

Beavers can now be released under a new government license scheme, meaning wild beavers living in our rivers and streams for the first time in 400 years.

So, what will this mean for the natural world?

The National Farmers Union is concerned that their chewing and flooding of land could impact agriculture.

But pioneering trial schemes that have been running in the South East of England could hold the key to keeping everyone happy and using the beavers as 'ecosystem engineers'.

Paul Hadaway has been monitoring the Beavers behaviour to see how they can be useful in the wild

Paul Hadaway, Director of Conservation at Kent Wildlife Trust said: "We were the first place in England to have beavers released in an enclosed reserve and we did that for habitat restoration.

"Our site was getting dry and the peat was drying out but the beavers dammed it and now it's wet, it's boggy and we've had kingfisher return, water vole and turtledoves which are a national rarity."

The Kent site, Ham Fen near Sandwich, has a stream running through it which was polluted with agricultural run off but the beaver dams have acted as natural filters and vastly improved the water quality.

The National Farmers Union accepts the good that beavers can do but said farmers need to be protected.

Beaver dams act as "natural filters" for contaminated streams and rivers

David Exwood, Deputy President of the NFU, said: "A beaver in the right place is a good thing, a beaver in the wrong place can be a really bad thing.

"They're industrious animals, they will fell trees, flood river banks, undermine flood defences, they can do a lot of damage."

In Sussex, beavers live at Knepp Rewildling Project and it's hoped that some of their captive animals could be released onto the river Adur.

Matt Phelps said beavers and people can work together

Matt Phelps, Lead ecologist at Knepp said: "It's important to recognise farmers' concerns.

"Some of flooding can be completely unwanted and they do chew but the benefits of beavers are so profound that there is support for them."

"Some farmers in the West Country actually use beavers for irrigation and so we want people to feel supported and excited about the opportunity."

In Kent, local farmers, landowners, conservationists and the Internal Drainage Board formed stakeholders group to monitor the beaver's effects and ensure that all parties are satisfied.

Mr Hadaway said: "I hope that what we've got here can be used as a national model.

"What started out confrontational is now a really good working group and those conversations are going to be so important as we move onto releasing these animals into the wild."

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