Hampshire
Wildlife Trust
Beavers are herbivores, their favourite food is willow.
Newborn beavers are called kits. Beavers typically produce one litter of an average of three kits per year. Beavers are territorial. Their territories span approximately 3km.
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was hunted to extinction in Britain around 400 years ago, but we are on a mission to give this industrious, much-loved creature a helping paw in its return to the south coast. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is hoping to support the recovery of this ecosystem engineer starting with a wild release to the Eastern Yar river on the Isle of Wight.
Beavers are native to Britain and used to be common along waterways until hunting for their meat, fur, and scent oils drove them to extinction by the 16th century. However, beavers are once again becoming a key part of the British landscape.
Beavers could play a really unique and important role in creating a Wilder Wight. They are a keystone species meaning they can enhance, create, and sustain natural wetland ecosystems, bringing benefits to both people and wildlife.
We need to deliver landscape-scale nature recovery with at least 30% of land and sea actively managed for nature across the whole of the Isle of Wight by 2030. In 2019, the Island became a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, joining a global network of outstanding cultural and ecological locations. The Island truly is a haven for wildlife, with a hugely diverse range of habitats. But we could achieve so much more.
The Trust now manages 17 nature reserves on the Island, covering more than 420 hectares. Our reserves conserve and enhance important habitats and provide a vital refuge for some of our most vulnerable species, including water voles, dormice and rare dragonflies. Protecting these species is central to our plans to create a Wilder Wight.
We aim to continue expanding and connecting our network of reserves by acquiring and improving marginal habitats and poor-quality land. We’ll work alongside those who share our vision for a Wilder Wight so we can create an island-wide nature recovery network to provide bigger, better and more joined-up spaces for nature – doubling the space for wildlife to reach the 30% goal. Together, we’ll help nature recover, making sure our wetlands are functioning landscapes and help reverse declines in wildlife both on land and at sea.
To achieve this, it’s essential to bring back missing keystone species to restore the wider ecosystem. Creating a more climate-resilient landscape where wildlife can adapt is also vital. The recent reintroduction of whitetailed eagles has blazed a trail of success across the Island’s skies. Returning other lost native species, including beavers, is key to our wetlands recovering.
The Isle of Wight is a haven for wildlife but, with increased pressures from climate change, development and intensive industrialised agriculture, wildlife is at risk from weather extremes, pollution and habitat fragmentation.
To support our ambition for a Wilder Wight, in 2020 the Trust commissioned a study by leading experts on the feasibility of bringing beavers to the Island. Modelling data suggests there is ample suitable habitat along many of our Island rivers, due to the abundance of willow woodland (beavers favoured food) and other wetlands alongside the Yar. Furthermore, the study found the Eastern Yar catchment, in particular, to be “highly suitable for beaver release and long-term occupation” especially since at 24 km in length, it’s the Island’s longest river.
And even more importantly, the Trust owns around 300 acres along the Eastern Yar floodplain in a series of five interconnecting nature reserves, from Newchurch Moors all the way down through to Morton Marsh. Our tenure along the river means we’re already managing this 6 km stretch of river for nature, meaning that beavers could fit right in! We anticipate there to be very little conflict along this wildlife corridor, as the Trust is already responsible for maintaining the infrastructure and access associated with our reserves, and we will work closely with our neighbours to ensure that as beavers breed and spread, landowners are supported in managing any future beaver impact.
Other Isle of Wight nature reserves:
11. Kittenocks
Beavers are often referred to as ecosystem engineers as they can transform their habitat and bring enormous benefits for wildlife and people, including:
The Eastern Yar has moderate to poor water quality. Beaver dams can help trap and filter out pollutants including silt, sediment, nitrates and phosphates, leading to cleaner waters downstream where water is abstracted for public use.
The Eastern Yar has been dredged and straightened, meaning water travels rapidly downstream towards lowlying communities during periods of heavy rain. Beaver dams can slow river flows, which means during heavy rainfall downstream storm drains and infrastructure are not overwhelmed.
Beavers are undeniably cute, their dams simply amazing and their pencil-shaped tree stumps easy to spot, all of which make for a fun day out wildlife-watching. Their ponds also support lots of other wildlife including wading birds, water voles and otters, meaning that wildlifewatching opportunities abound.
Beavers have a positive influence on the local environment and the animals and plants that live there by creating diverse wetland habitats.
Beaver ponds are full of organic material such as tree branches. This creates plenty of food for aquatic insects to feed on, boosting the productivity of the river and supporting the rest of the food chain.
The ponds create large areas of standing water that provide an ideal spawning habitat for frogs, toads, and newts.
As beavers coppice trees along riverbanks they open up the canopy, allowing more sunlight in to support grasses and wildflowers, creating perfect lawns for water voles to graze on.
Beaver ponds make great rearing habitat for fish, filled with plenty of insect food and woody cover to escape predators.
We need to support nature’s recovery in the Eastern Yar now more than ever:
• Man-made problems have had a detrimental impact on the river’s habitats and wildlife.
• Habitat diversity has been lost where the river has been artificially straightened.
• Dredging has increased the height of the riverbanks and resulted in a loss of river-floodplain connection, making flash flooding more likely.
• Pollution from surface water and agricultural run-off has degraded the wetland habitat and water quality.
And beavers can help us save and restore this special habitat...
• An overwhelming body of evidence reveals that beavers create diverse, dynamic, wetland habitats as well as natural riverine channel structures, benefitting flowering plants, amphibians, fish, birds, bats, and insects.
• Beavers provide a cost-effective natural alternative to help tackle many of our water resource challenges such as water pollution, floods and drought.
• They can slow the flow through damming which gives more time for storm drains downstream to wash away heavy rainfalls, reducing risks of flooding.
• Their engineering work will raise the water table and reconnect the floodplain making flash flooding less likely.
• Beaver dams catch and filter out sediment and pollutants which means downstream water quality is improved which benefits other sensitive species.
This image of the Eastern Yar in 2022 demonstrates how the raised banks and straightening of the river channel have caused a lack of connectivity to the floodplain, leaving the surrounding meadows high and dry despite high flows in the channel.
A more connected floodplain would create a mosaic of biodiverse wetlands with increased water storage capacity, creating lush refuges during drought and holding back water when it’s raining.
Mitigation measures would be employed if beaver activity was deemed to be unsuitable in a specific location. Some examples of mitigation strategies include: Beavers are fantastic ecosystem engineers; they have the ability to restore the natural function of the Island’s floodplains and rivers. The Trust is committed to managing beavers and supporting the Island community to deliver beaver management strategies for the long term.
The Trust is working closely with land managers and other organisations where beavers are presently to understand which management strategies have worked for them. We’ll be putting measures in place so that we can deliver these on the Island if needed. We are keen to replicate the successes of projects such as the River Otter Beaver Trial in Devon. Devon Wildlife Trust has worked tirelessly to keep beavers in the wild by monitoring their activities and solving landowner conflicts to ensure that they continue to live happily alongside the local community.
We are aware that beavers can sometimes cause unwelcome activities. We are keen to work with the Island community so beavers could live alongside locals in a way that is positive for both people and wildlife.
Individual trees can be wrapped with wire mesh or painted with a sand-based paint to stop beavers from gnawing them. Entire groves can be protected using wire mesh or electric fencing to exclude beavers from larger areas.
Dams can be modified to allow for water flow. They can be notched (removing a section of the dam to allow water flow over the top), lowered and kept at a set height, or they can be removed altogether to encourage beavers to move to a different location.
Flow Management Devices ‘(known as ‘beaver deceivers’)’ can also be installed to bring water to a tolerable level. A pipe is placed through the dam, allowing water to flow through. Beavers can continue to build the dam, but this will have no impact on water levels, since flow will be controlled by the position of the pipe, allowing a flexible strategy to control water storage.
Under Natural England licencing we would be able to live trap and relocate any nuisance beavers as well as exchanging beavers or giving them to other UK beaver projects.
Releasing beavers on the Isle of Wight would be hugely exciting and would help create a Wilder Wight. Every species has a role to play in the complex jigsaw of our natural world, and if we don't reverse nature’s decline, our ecosystem will eventually collapse. Bringing beavers to the Isle of Wight would help restore the balance and support our mission to restabilise our environment and support a huge array of other wildlife.
I’ve always loved wild watery places and spent much of my career in and around rivers, ponds, and lakes. After completing a degree in Environmental Management, I worked on a landscape-scale habitat restoration project based on the river Ouse in north Bucks, connecting and restoring floodplain habitats.
After a move to the Isle of Wight, I was fortunate to work for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust surveying pond wildlife and creating lots of new wild ponds. I then went on to work for Island Rivers where it wasn’t long before I became familiar with the Eastern Yar landscape and wetlands whilst surveying for water voles, helping tackle water pollution using catchment-sensitive farming techniques and coordinating volunteers to clear Himalayan balsam (an invasive non-native plant).
I’m aware of the pressures and challenges on the Island’s watercourses and now I’m excited to be back working for Hampshire & Isle of Wildlife Trust as part of the Wilder Wight team in my new role as Beaver Recovery Project Officer; helping to restore our rivers and floodplains for wildlife and people.
Find out more about Wilder Wight here: hiwwt.org.uk/wilderwight or email Island@hiwwt.org.uk
Meet Nicola, Beaver Recovery Project Officer
For over 60 years Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust has protected the wildlife and wild places of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and our local seas. With the invaluable support of volunteers and members, we manage over 60 nature reserves. We also work with other organisations and landowners to protect and connect wildlife sites across the county and inspire local communities and young people to care for wildlife where they live.
Together with our supporters, we are fighting to bring nature back. Our 10-year goal is to see a third of land and sea in our two counties actively managed for nature by 2030. We need to reverse species
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Beechcroft House, Vicarage Lane
Curdrdge, Southampton SO32 2DP
01489 774400
declines, tackle the climate crisis and mitigate pollution. Making up just 2% of our counties, our nature reserves are now some of the best remaining places for nature – providing essential space for wildlife to thrive and a vital refuge for our rarest and most vulnerable species.
The Trust would like to thank the James Tuttiett Charitable Trust and the John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust, whose funding helps make this proposed beaver recovery project possible. We’d also like to thank all of our partners and supporters who are working with us to develop plans to bring back beavers.
Visit hiwwt.org.uk to see how you can help fight to bring nature back!
