Specially-protected but the animals’ population still needs management
Politicians from across the political spectrum have welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to give the country’s beavers protected status – while acknowledging that there may be instances when the population will need to be managed.
Earlier this year, the Scottish Green party tabled parliamentary questions which revealed beavers that were heavily pregnant or had recently given birth had been shot.
Mark Ruskell, the environment spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, described the decision on the beavers’ future as“long-overdue”.
He said:“I’m delighted the beaver will finally be given legal protection in Scotland after years of campaigning, paving the way for populations to spread across the country.
“Beavers are nature’s engineers and in an age of climate change, I cannot think of a more iconic animal that has already been welcomed by communities in Perthshire and Argyll.
“Bringing this species back from extinction will make a huge contribution to restoring wetland habitat - boosting biodiversity while helping natural flood management.
“Farmers and land managers will need support from the Scottish Government to understand how to work positively with wild beaver populations, but thankfully there are numerous other European countries that have successfully re-introduced beavers which will provide the basis for a welfare friendly management regime in Scotland.”
Perthshire North SNP MSP John Swinney thanked colleague Roseanna Cunningham – the Scottish Government’s environment minister – for taking“great care to consider the issue of the re-introduction of the beaver, on which there are sharply differing views”.
He added:“There is a large population in the Tayside area and the government has set out what I consider to be a fair and rational approach to their management. I am grateful to Roseanna Cunningham for the lengths she has gone to engage with my constituents of different opinions to find a way forward.”
Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP, Murdo Fraser, called for a balanced approach to the management of beavers. He said:“This is a long-running issue in Tayside with strong opinions on both sides.
“For some time, I have been arguing for a compromise approach whereby the existing beaver population would be tolerated, but farmers and land managers would have the right to control numbers where agricultural interests were threatened.
“What we need to fully understand is what the government mean by“active management”and what measures farmers and land managers will be able to take.”
Mark Ruskell said decision was long overdue Wildlife expert and adventurer Steve Backshall MSP John Swinney talked of Roseanna Cunningham’s input