Local Groups Forum recap: beavers
Beavers have returned after to the UK after centuries. Photograph: Shane Stanbridge
This August we hosted our second Local Groups Forum which was all about beavers. Alana Skilbeck and Holly Usher from the Beaver Trust joined us to talk about how local groups can support beaver protection and restoration across the UK. It was attended by a wide range of counties across the UK including Kent, North East Scotland, Shropshire, Devon, Sussex, Staffordshire and Essex.
The forum aims to facilitate knowledge sharing, raise awareness, and foster partnerships among local groups to address shared conservation challenges and benefit local mammal populations. Each Forum, we will focus on a different theme (a topic, issue, or species) and unpick if/how it is relevant to each local group’s region, or what projects and campaigns Local Groups are undertaking or considering related to that topic. Any member of a local group (or those interested in joining a local group) are invited to bring any ideas or issues to the forum. These forums are held every 2-3 months on Teams.
About beavers
Beavers are the second largest rodent in the world. They have thick brown fur, scaly tails and webbed hind-feet. Adults can measure over a metre from head to tail. Beavers are known for their big, strong teeth which they use to cut through tree trunks. Iron in their tooth enamel gives the teeth an orange colour and makes them super strong. The teeth stick out in front of their lips to allow beavers to chew underwater. Even strong teeth get worn down by gnawing through trees so their teeth never stop growing.
““Britain is the 29th most nature-depleted country on earth and our natural systems are on the brink of collapse. Beavers have the ability to breathe life back into our rivers and these effects are felt across all ecosystems in our country.””
Beaver dams provide a host of benefits for beavers and people. The creation of new complex wetland behind a dam provides new habitat for a diverse range of plant and invertebrate species. This in turn provides breeding, foraging and shelter opportunities for a range of birds, bats, mammals and amphibians. By impounding water and slowly releasing it through leaky structures beaver damming activity makes river systems more resilient to drought by increasing base flows in dry periods and decreasing the risk of flooding downstream during high flows.
The above text has been adapted from the Beaver Trust website. Find out more here.
Beaver field signs
Tracks
Haul out points
Faeces
Lodges
Burrows
Scent mounds
Dams
Woody and herbaceous vegetation
Forage trails
Crop feeding
Feeding stations
Canals
Photograph: Derek Crawley
Download this PDF to learn more about beaver field signs.
How local groups can get involved
Whether you have beavers in your area or not, there are so many ways to get involved in protecting and restoring beaver populations around the UK.
Be an advocate for beavers: act as a point of information for beavers in your county, making sure to counter any misinformation about beavers. No, they don’t eat fish!
Do a riverside survey: let the Beaver Trust know if you discover any beavers in your area. You can send them an email at info@beavertrust.org.uk
Attend a beaver training: keep an eye out for training courses on beaver ecology and conservation on our website.
Raise awareness of enclosed beavers in your county: many people don’t realise they have beavers in their local area. For example, in Sussex there are captive Beavers at the National Trust and Knepp Estate sites. If open to the public, encourage people to visit these sites to get a feel for what a world with wild beavers might look like. Trust us, it’s pretty great!
Join a beaver working group: speak to your local county recorder or local records centre to find out if there is a beaver working group in your county.
Have beavers in your county? Get advice, support and resources on the beaver management website including how to manage human-beaver conflicts.
More resources
Position statement on beaver reintroductions
Looking ahead: acoustic monitoring
Join us at our next forum on acoustic monitoring on Thursday 24th October at 6pm. We’ll have Paul Howden-Leach from Wildlife Acoustics joining us to give an introduction to the technicalities of acoustic monitoring and answer any mammal-related questions. We invite you to think about the following: how is your group incorporating acoustic monitoring, how does acoustic monitoring help in identifying species and understanding their behaviours, what tools or software do you find most helpful, what technical challenges have you encountered, case studies or success stories where acoustic monitoring helped, and anything else you want to discuss relevant to acoustic monitoring in your county.
Please download Microsoft Teams in advance to participate in the chat after the forum. We look forward to your insights and contributions on this important topic. Your participation and input are vital as we continue to address the challenges and opportunities in wildlife management and conservation.