Gloucestershire hopes for beaver return after 400 years

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust said the benefits of beavers as ecosystem engineers are well-documented

A wild reintroduction of beavers is being considered for a county more than 400 years after they were last recorded there.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust launched Project Beaver appeal to raise money for a beaver feasibility study.

Fenced reintroductions have been carried out at Greathough Brook in the Forest of Dean and Cotswold Water Park.

If successful this will be the first time a wild reintroduction has taken place in the county.

The project is being jointly managed by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) and Forestry England, and has so far raised almost £10,000.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust said beavers are key to their hopes of reversing the decline of Gloucestershire's wildlife

Anna Tarbet, GWT's Ecosystem Recovery Manager, said the study will be assessing "what's possible when it comes to reintroductions here in Gloucestershire".

"We'll be looking at biological aspects, such as where's the right habitat, but also what impact they could have on humans and humans on them."

Ms Tarbet said the feasibility study would focus on social consideration, working with landowners and communities "every step of the way".

This would include looking into the possible impact of beavers on agriculture and livelihoods at any proposed location.

Beavers dams help create vibrant wetlands where many more species can thrive

"It's a true feasibility study, so we're not going in with any locations in mind. It's really exciting to see where the project will take us," she added.

The Trust said the benefit of beavers to the ecosystem is well-documented and as vegetarians they only cut down the amount of wood they need to construct their dams.

Ben Robinson, Planning and Environment Manager at Forestry England said beavers are a "keystone species and known as ecosystem engineers… [and] can restore habitat by creating feeding and breeding opportunities for a range of other wildlife".

He said having seen the change beavers have brought to a landscape at Greathough Brook it is "fantastic to be exploring opportunities to bring back a free-living beaver population to the county".