Beavers to get busy on moors to halt floods

A FAMILY of beavers looks set to be moved into an enclosed area of the North York Moors in an experiment to see if they can help prevent devastating floods.

Natural England has indicated it will license the five-year Forestry’s Commission project in Cropton Forest to see if the rodents can improve the landscape.

It is hoped the beavers, to be brought from Scotland or Norway, will build dams and help maintain ones created as part of the pioneering Slowing the Flow scheme, to reduce the frequency of floods in the Pickering area.

The commission hopes the beavers will complement the Slowing the Flow project, which has used natural flood management techniques in the upper catchment such as tree planting and the introduction of dams can hold back large volumes of water during floods.

Other aims of the trial include encouraging the restoration of riverside and open water habitats and increasing biodiversity along the river corridor.

A meeting of the North York Moors National Park Authority heard the trial would feature up to eight beavers, including an adult breeding pair, in a 16-hectare enclosure in the Sutherland Beck Valley.

After members raised concerns over beavers finding ways out and highlighted mink-related ecological damage, they were told escape routes such as ditches, culverts and drains would be blocked.

After the meeting, authority member David Jeffels, described the project as “an excellent idea”. He said: “Seeing these little chaps working away in the watercourses of North Yorkshire is going to be a really exciting prospect.”