UK’s first urban beavers thriving at Ealing nature reserve

A family of five beavers has been introduced into a West London nature reserve as part of a project in Ealing.

Eurasian beavers, one of the most impactful, native ecosystem engineers, have returned to Ealing for the first time in 400 years. This collaborative project provides access to a rewilded landscape for people to experience firsthand these animals’ incredible abilities to create nature rich wetlands.

As a fully accessible site, this project stands to be the first of its kind in an urban setting in the UK. As wild populations in Kent and Oxfordshire inevitably move closer to London, this is an incredibly important component of the project, preparing people to live alongside this species once again. Not only will it give people the chance to learn about these animals and their incredible behaviours but will provide key learnings on how we can coexist together.

Paradise Fields is a 10-hectare area of woodland and wetlands in urban Greenford in the north of the borough. The project is a collaboration between Ealing Wildlife Group, Citizen Zoo, Friends of Horsenden Hill and Ealing Council with support from Beaver Trust. Dr Sean McCormack, Vet and Chair of Ealing Wildlife Group said: “Many people assume beavers are a wilderness species, when in fact we’ve just forgotten how closely we used to live alongside them.

“We’re so excited to study how beavers interact with an urban river catchment and, crucially, with urban communities. Beavers are a keystone species, manipulating habitat to create biodiverse wetlands where many other species can thrive. Their activities can help combat and adapt to impacts of climate change through carbon capture, reduce flood