Page 29 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #02

BRITISH BEAVERS

“ WITHIN A FORTNIGHT OF THEIR RELEASE

THE BEAVERS’ HANDIWORK WAS HOLDING
BACK 1,000 CUBIC METRES OF WATER.”

high densities of beavers. Many of the Bavarian sceptics Above: beaver
have slowly been won over. In fact, farmers in low-lying tug of war. Kits
may stay with
areas around the River Danube have found that during
their parents
droughts their cereal crops have fared better in areas
for up to two
where there are beaver dams. years. Right:
For me, an even more encouraging story is that of the the moment
golden-ringed dragonfly. This stunning insect was thought Chris and Gillian
discovered the
to need fast-flowing water to breed, so the assumption
beaver lodge.
in Bavaria was that it would vanish as damming activity
increased. Researchers were startled to find that, far
from disappearing, the dragonfly started to breed in the planted the wood for timber, firewood and to create a habitat
dams themselves, where the species made use of the for wildlife. It strikes me that you might expect Chris to be
microhabitats of fast-flowing water. really sentimental about his woodland, yet he is not at all
There are other positives to be taken from the experience bothered about it being redesigned by the newcomers.
in Bavaria. As mature beaver habitats have begun to silt up, The beavers only fell a few of the larger trees, Chris
vegetation communities that haven’t been seen in living points out. And, even then, they don’t actually kill the trees.
memory have started to appear. It is rewilding in action. They are effectively coppiced, which, in turn, creates fresh
microhabitats for birds, invertebrates and other species. “In
KEYSTONE SPECIES a hundred years’ time,” he tells me, “these ponds will silt
Closer to home, the Devon project has seen a mind-blowing up and this will all be deep, fertile soil.” I’m bowled over by
increase in the local common frog population. Researchers Chris’s long-term thinking. That he is willing to manage his
counted 10 clumps of frogspawn when the site was first land for wildlife in this way, knowing he won’t see the full
surveyed in 2011. Just five years later, that total had risen to returns in his lifetime, is truly admirable.
580. At the Cornish release site, ponds have expanded more As I ponder this thought, Chris notices something
than two-fold since June 2017. “The frogs returning this different on the little island in the middle of the pond. Not
spring to spawn are in for quite a surprise,” Cheryl reckons. quite believing his eyes at first, he realises that he has finally
Cornwall’s pair of beavers have already exceeded all caught sight of the beaver lodge. Overcome with emotion,
expectations. They were released on a Friday evening, he immediately reaches for his phone to share the news
Beavers: Nick Upton; Gillian: Nina Constable since.” Within a fortnight of their release, the beavers’ + FIND OUT MORE made themselves right at home. And
Chris tells me. “They had the weekend off. Started to
with Cheryl and his partners at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
dam-build on the Monday, and haven’t had a day off
He has his proof that the beavers have
now there’s the promise of the pitter-
O More about the project: www.
handiwork was holding back 1,000 cubic metres of water.
cornwallwildlife.org.uk/beaverproject
Chris’s family has farmed here for three generations.
patter of tiny feet come spring.
O Brett Westwood presents a
Together with his father and brothers, he personally
programme about beavers for BBC
enclosure. The land, he explains, was a wet and waterlogged
and wildlife TV presenter. See
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05k6fjj
pasture that was never really any good for grazing. So they
her on BBC Two’s Winterwatch.
planted up the mixed woodland that now forms the beaver Radio Four’s Natural Histories series: GILLIAN BURKE is a biologist
February 2018 BBC Wildlife 29