Return of the Beaver

Councillor Kate Willis, Highland Council beaver species champion

Beavers are amazing ecosystem engineers that were once widespread in Scotland before they were hunted to extinction around 500 years ago.

The good news is that beavers have been returned to Scotland and, one day, they will hopefully be as widespread as they once were. In 2019, beavers were granted European protected status in Scotland, and in late 2021 the Scottish Government finally agreed to actively support the expansion of Scotland’s beaver population, which will help spread the huge environmental benefits these ecosystem engineers bring to new areas.

Beavers are our key allies in tackling the nature and climate crises. The dams they build create nature-rich wetlands that benefit many different species; the dams and wetlands reduce the impacts of floods and droughts, and improve water quality. The presence of beavers also benefits local economies through eco-tourism.

Beavers have only legally been introduced to two sites in Scotland: at Knapdale Forest in Argyll in 2009, and more recently at Argaty in Perthshire. But they have also been spreading naturally within the River Tay catchment for a few years now.

In February, the audience attending Lochaber Natural History Societies talk by Tom Bowser “Beavers and Bureaucracy: The story of the Argaty beaver project” were enthralled. Tom’s family farm, Argaty, now has 12 beavers, relocated from sites in Tayside where they were not wanted. The process to secure the translocation licence was cumbersome and time-consuming, but in his talk, Tom described the benefits he is already seeing on the farm.

He said: “Wrens, robins and blackbirds dart between felled, coppicing trees. Dragonflies egglay in floating gnawed wood. Frogs and newts breed in beaver-dug canals. In this winter’s rainstorms, beaver dams held back water. For the first time in five years the outflow stream did not burst its banks, our dirt tracks did not wash away, our farm did not flood.”

Despite being protected, around 100 beavers (10% of Scotland’s beaver population) are still being shot every year on Tayside due to their perceived impacts on farmland. Moving beavers from where they are not wanted to areas where they are will help reduce, and hopefully eliminate, this licensed killing.

Seven beavers were reintroduced to Loch Lomond at the end of January and Cairngorms National Park will begin consultations this year about returning beavers to the park. So, could 2023 be the year that we also see beavers being reintroduced to Lochaber? I certainly hope so.