Bringing beavers back

Back from the brink

WORDS IZZIE TWEEN Beaver Recovery Project O cer

Izzie joined the Trust in August 2021 to support a potential return of beavers to the Isle of Wight. A zoology graduate, Izzie has studied reintroduced beavers in Scotland and gained experience working on a beaver relocation project in the USA.

Hunted to extinction in the UK around 400 years ago, Britain’s beavers are on an astonishing comeback trail. We’re on a mission to give this industrious, much-loved creature a helping paw in its return to the south coast.

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fi ber) is native to Britain. Populations of the paddletailed mammals were once healthy here until relentless hunting for their meat, fur and scent oils drove them to extinction in the UK by the 16th century.

Thankfully, coordinated conservation eff orts mean the species is making a remarkable comeback across the British Isles. Wild populations are currently thriving in Scotland, Devon, Kent, Somerset, Wiltshire and Herefordshire.

Beavers are, once again, becoming a key part of the British landscape. Last year, the Government announced that the mammals would get legal protection as a native species, making it illegal to deliberately capture, kill, disturb or injure them, or to damage their breeding sites or resting places. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Aff airs (Defra) also gave the green light to discuss further licensed reintroductions in England and ran a public consultation to gather people’s views on the species’ return.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is keen to support the recovery of this industrious creature with an initial introduction on the Isle of Wight. Here we highlight the myriad ways that beavers can benefi t our communities and our wildlife and outline our hopes for a potential release in 2023! >

Top beaver facts

● Beaver teeth are orange! e unusual colour is derived from an iron-rich protective coating on the enamel that strengthens them.

● Beavers slap their broad tails against the water to warn others of danger. When other beavers hear this alarm, they tend to seek deep water out of harm’s way. e noise may also help scare o predators.

● Beavers can stay underwater for up to eight minutes.

● Beavers have a third, transparent, eyelid to protect their eyes when they swim underwater.

● Beavers can swim at up to six miles per hour.

● Adult beavers can grow to be up to 1m in length, plus a tail of 30cm, and weigh as much as 30kg.

● e average lifespan of a wild beaver is 7-8 years – though some have been recorded to reach 25.

Beaver history and ecology

Contrary to common belief, beavers are vegetarian – they don’t eat fi sh. They are known as ‘generalist herbivores’ since their varied diet, especially during spring and summer, includes many diff erent types of plants and grasses.

In autumn and winter, once plants die back and become less nutritious, beavers turn to tree bark. This is when they begin carrying their renowned felling activities. In gnawing, chomping and nibbling away at the bark, beavers expose the nutrient-rich inner growing (cambium) layer of the tree so they can feast on the plant sugars stored inside. Stripped of its bark, the ‘white wood’ le behind lacks nutrition but serves as valuable building material for beavers’ famous dams and lodges!

To avoid predation, beavers evolved to be aquatic and crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk). They build dams to raise the water level so they can stay submerged and safe from predators, especially while feeding. Incredibly, if a beaver has eaten its way through most of the nearby trees, it will build its dam higher to raise the water level and make trees further afi eld more accessible.

Beaver benefi ts to wildlife

Fondly referred to as high-skilled ecosystem engineers, beavers are classed as a keystone species thanks largely to their renowned ability to fell trees, construct dams and create ponds..

DID YOU KNOW?

A keystone species is one that has an inordinate e ect on its environment relative to its abundance. Essentially, these species help de ne entire ecosystems. Keystone species are often predators, such as lions, sharks or wolves but can be herbivores, like African elephants and beavers, or even plants and fungi.

On the Isle of Wight, there are many species that could benefi t from the habitat modifi cations beavers carry out. Here’s a look at some of the main beaver benefi ciaries:

Beavers have an instinct to dam rivers, which bene ts the landscape and other species. It’s a common misconception that beavers eat sh as they are strictly vegetarian.

> Water voles

The Island is a haven for water voles, however, thick willow scrub on riverbanks can overshade the open grassy habitat they like to forage on. Beavers can coppice back willows, which opens up the canopy to promote grass growth and create precious feeding lawns for water voles.

> Amphibians

Beaver ponds can increase the volume of standing water in the fl oodplain, which makes ideal spawning habitat for amphibians, including our protected great crested newts. Increased fallen dead wood could also provide newts and other amphibians with additional foraging, shelter and hibernation sites.

> Fish

The plant material that beavers drag into their ponds to feed on also provides lots of food for aquatic insects. Plus, the woody material provides cover from fi sh-eating predators, making beaver ponds a great rearing habitat for fi sh such as trout.

Nature’s ecosystem engineers

It’s no coincidence the defi nition of the verb ‘beaver’ is ‘to work hard’. Naturally diligent, these plucky animals can provide great advantages for people and rural communities. Indeed, when announcing the launch of a government consultation on further reintroductions of the mammal last year, Environment Secretary, George Eustice, said ‘the benefi ts [of beavers] for the environment, people and the economy are clear’. Here are some ways beavers can help us:

> Reducing risk of fl ash fl oods

Beaver dams can hold back water, storing it in ponds and thereby slowing down river currents and minimising the impact of heavy rainfall events. Following a storm, a river’s fl ow can increase rapidly and signifi cantly – this is a called a ‘fl ashy’ response – which makes fl ooding more likely. Beaver dams can reduce this response, which gives storm drains downstream more time to take away water from vulnerable urban areas.

> Improving water quality

Beaver dams can trap silt and sediment and capture it in curated ponds, along with pollutants such as nitrates and phosphates. Water that fl ows downstream through the dams is therefore fi ltered and can be cleaner than upstream sources.

> A racting ecotourism

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. Wildlife tourism through beaver watching can boost rural economies by visitors spending locally on food and accommodation.

Our plans for a release

In view of all these benefi ts, the Trust is hoping to introduce beavers on the Isle of Wight next year.

In a feasibility study carried out in 2020, the Eastern Yar river was found to have highly suitable habitat to support a beaver population. The Trust is lucky enough to own 300 acres of land along the Eastern Yar in a series of nature reserves already set aside for conservation. The RSPB’s Brading Marshes Nature Reserve adds another 1,150 acres of protected habitat.

The Trust is currently carrying out consultation to engage with as many stakeholders as possible and to gather local opinions on a potential beaver release. If you’ve not already done so, please give us your views by completing our questionnaire found at:

hiwwt.typeform.com/beaver

As a sign of commitment to the project, last year the Trust created a new role for a Beaver Recovery Project Offi cer and I was fortunate enough to get the job. In the coming months and years, I’ll be leading on outreach and engagement about beavers. Depending on the outcome of the consultation, as well as local buy-in and support among our island communities, the Trust hopes to submit a licence application to Natural England later this year.

In the meantime, we’ll be (ahem) beavering away in earnest in our a empts to bring these marvellous mammals to the Isle of Wight.

The Trust would like to thank the James Tu ie Charitable Trust and the John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust, whose funding helps make this beaver reintroduction project possible.