Why should beavers be reintroduced to Wales?

The talk was given to the North Wales Wildlife Trust and focused on how beavers can help over animal species due to the habitat they create; because of this beaver’s are known as keystone species.

Why we need beavers

Beavers aid a wide range of species for example a study by the Devon Wildlife Trust found that clumps of frogspawn on a reserve increased from 10 to 681 in 6 years due to beavers. Another 2 studies found there was 30%-45% more dragonfly and damselfly species between areas with low and high beaver activity.

There is no denying the issues that a beaver dam has on fish species especially migratory species such as Atlantic salmon and eels. However, a study found that as long as there is space around the dam then smaller bypass channels will form which results in a very low negative impact overall for fish species as well as introducing new gravel to the river. That said many fish species are able to jump beaver dams.

Even bats have been shown to gain from beaver presence with a polish study on 5 species (all of which are found in the UK) finding significantly more bats foraging in areas with high beaver activity; bats have also been found to roost in old lodges or dams!

Eurasian beaver will hopefully become a common sight across Wales. 

(© Jiri Bohdar)

Beavers in Wales

The talk ended with an update on the progress of beaver reintroduction in Wales. So far, the only beavers to be licenced to be released in Wales are at Cors Dyfi nature reserve in Mid-Wales however, this is in a cage so is not classed as a reintroduction. These beavers are being released to aid habitat management on the reserve and can be used as a proxy to show how beavers may behaviour in the welsh countryside but as these are limited due to the fences their behaviour may be changed; giving bias results.

Read more about the project here

Cors Dyfi nature reserve- 6 beavers are planned to be released here this year into an enclosure.

(© Natural resources Wales)

This talk nicely evaluated the current research into the impact’s beavers can have on the fauna of the UK. As more and more beaver reintroductions are proposed and completed across the UK, research like the ones assessed in this talk will help to gain support from organisations and landowners alike that beavers will significantly improve the UK’s biodiversity.

There is no doubting the support by many for the reintroduction of many species back to the UK such as beavers. Because of this, there will no doubt be more jobs in the future based around reintroductions and talks like this are extremely helpful in educating me on the reasons why and how a reintroduction occurs.

Link to talk