SNH in bid to stop dams on Meigle Burn

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is attempting to beat Perthshire beavers at their own game by installing a “water gate” in the Meigle Burn.

The reintroduction of the rodents in Scotland has been met with resistance due to the damage damming causes to farmland across the country.

Since May, shooting or moving of beavers is only allowed under licence, managed by SNH.

SNH is proposing a more humane solution to keep beavers away from crops by blocking one of the streams they swim up.

The water gate is a sturdy metal grill which allows water to pass downstream but cannot be breached by creatures heading upstream.

In a report sent to council planners, SNH states it has “the primary aim of preventing beaver activities, especially dam building, from having serious impacts on the prime agricultural land in that area and in relation to increasing flooding risk for local houses and businesses.

“The water gate will have to be a very robust, secured barred structure placed in-stream that cannot be burrowed underneath. There will also need to be lengths of fencing, linked to the gate which will run along the bank sides to stop beavers by-passing the screen.”

The plan has been cautiously welcomed by Conservative MSP Alexander Stewart.

He said: “Beaver populations across the region have become increasingly controversial since the animals were illegally reintroduced to the wild around 12 years ago and only recently an SNH report revealed that more than 400 animals were now thought to live in the area.

“As we know, theirlodges and dams can flood farmland, costing farmers and land managers thousands of pounds every year.

“If we are to introduce control measures, they must be simple and easy to use with no onerous conditions or additional costs placed on farmers or land managers.”

Perth and Kinross Council will consider the plans in the near future.

MSP Alexander Stewart.