Today the Welsh government has announced that it supports moving towards the managed reintroduction of beavers in Wales.
Tim Birch, Senior Policy & Advocacy Manager for Wildlife Trusts Wales, says:
“This is great news from the Welsh Government – it can't happen fast enough. It's vital that we bring back beavers to Wales as a matter of urgency. The nature and climate crises grow more acute by the day with flood warnings regularly occurring across Wales. Beavers can help provide a natural solution to water pollution and to the flooding which is devastating homes and businesses. They are an amazing species that create wetlands, through their beaver dams, which store rainfall in the landscape and slowly release water when the rain has subsided. These wetlands are incredible places for a whole range of wildlife.
“Other countries across Europe have embraced the benefits that beavers bring and it's high time that Wales did the same. A study last year showed that nearly 90% of people in Wales support returning beavers to the wild here – it's great to see Welsh Government acknowledging such overwhelming public support. Now we need action on the ground to get wild beavers back into our landscapes, and fast.”
The Welsh Beaver Project has been investigating the feasibility of reintroducing beavers to Wales since 2005, and this has involved finding out what people think about beavers in Wales. A great deal of public engagement work has been undertaken over the past 20 years – most recently, in the spring of 2023, the first all-Wales online survey was conducted. This showed overwhelmingly positive support for bringing back beavers to Wales. See the results: Beavers in Wales, what do YOU think?
Beavers were once widespread across Wales, but due to over hunting by humans for their fur, meat and scent glands they became extinct after the Middle Ages in Wales and by the end of the 16th Century they were extinct from the rest of Britain. Beavers are very special animals because they play a vital role in enriching biodiversity by restoring and managing river and wetland ecosystems. They are known as a ‘keystone species’ because their activities can benefit a wide range of other animals and plants that live in rivers and wetlands. Beavers are known as nature's engineers. They make changes to their habitats which create diverse wetlands for other species to thrive.
