Scottish beavers to stay
BUT CONSERVATIONISTS SAY THEY FACE AN UPHILL BATTLE CONVINCING SOME LAND-USERS OF THEIR VALUE.
Species to be protected
Beavers are to be protected in Scotland under European nature legislation, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
It means that beavers in Knapdale, where the official trial took place, and Tayside, where they were unofficially introduced, will be allowed to stay.
It also means that further reintroductions will be permitted under licence.
But environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said limiting the impact of beavers on farmers “will require careful management”, so they will have the right to remove or cull animals where they create problems.
Conservationists gave a mixed reaction to the news. While remaining largely positive, the chief executive of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Jonny Hughes, said a lot of work needed to be done, such as reassuring farmers who might see beavers as “an expensive nuisance”.
“The Government needs to identify areas where new colonies can be released, [though] some of these might be ‘recycled’ animals from the Tayside population,” Hughes said in a blog.
Steve Micklewright, chief executive of Trees for Life – a Scotland-based NGO that restores native Caledonian pine forest – said he was excited about the potential for restoring beavers to areas of the Highlands north-west of Tayside, such as Dundreggan. “We need to work with landowners, fishing interests and all the people with a stake in this, and that will take a long time, so we want to start the process now,” Micklewright said.
But Derek Gow, a conservationist and vocal campaigner for reintroducing beavers to the UK for many years, said there was little sense of urgency, either within Scotland or England and Wales, about the importance of getting beavers back into our landscape.
“With Brexit looming, we need to look at how we reshape the landscape, particularly the river corridors,” he said. “We need dynamic wetlands to address issues such as toxic runoff and nitrates, and for that we need beavers and we need to do it fast.”