Beavering away for the National Trust
BEAVERS will return to sites in Somerset and the South Downs next spring after the National Trust received the green light for their reintroduction last week. The charity will release two pairs at Holnicote, on the edge of Exmoor, and a pair at Valewood, on the Black Down estate in Surrey, as part of its commitment to restore more than 61,000 acres of wildlife-rich habitats by 2025.
‘The idea is to use natural processes to produce quality places for wildlife,’ explains David Elliott, Valewood’s lead ranger. As the industrious rodents create ponds, dams and rivulets, ‘amphibians will benefit and freshwater species will start doing really well, too. The other thing is that you get a load of invertebrates, so you draw a series of animals that need those invertebrates to survive, such as bats and birds’. Because beavers push up mud and silt in their building efforts, ‘you get really lovely wildflowers growing across the top of the dams’.
Beaver reintroductions do receive a mixed reception, however, with some farmers worrying about the damage they can cause. The Trust has tried to pre-empt concerns by announcing it will release the animals into monitored and fenced secure enclosures. CP