Beavers transform the otter in Devon – but how did they get there? | Wildlife

OOn a winding country road at a secret location in East Devon, just yards from the roadside, an inconspicuous pile of logs, twigs, sticks and leaves was squeezed over the rushing River Otter.

Passersby would pay no attention to this chaotic mound, but upon closer inspection, one can see that its construction was very deliberate, in the form of cleanly cut branches layered on top of each other in a distinctive pattern. This is a wild beaver dam.

“Nobody says how the animals got here in this river system,” says Steve Hussey of the Devon Wildlife Trust, crouching on the bank. “They just appeared, so they could have escaped or [been] intentionally placed there.”

The beavers first appeared in the Otter catchment in 2008. In 2015, the Devon Wildlife Trust launched a trial to reintroduce the species, and in 2020 the government announced that Devon's beavers could stay and spread naturally to other river catchments. The trust estimates that the industrious rodents now live in 20 separate family territories along the river and its tributaries.

Since 2022, it has been a criminal offence in England to intentionally capture, injure, kill or disturb beavers, or to damage or destroy their breeding or resting sites.

But the Wildlife Trusts – a coalition of conservation organisations in England and Wales – argued that the British government had “repeatedly failed” over the past two years to take the necessary steps for a widespread return of the species.

They are calling for urgent action, including the issuing of permits for the release of beavers in England and the publication of strategies for reintroducing the animals. In Wales, there are still no laws to protect beavers and manage them effectively.

Beaver bombing – the secret release of beavers into the wild – is on the rise in England as successive governments fail to keep their promises to allow planned releases into the wild. Studies such as those from the University of Exeter have now clearly shown that beavers play an important role in flood prevention by filtering water and improving wildlife habitat.

The change is clear around the dams along the River Otter. The rising water table has led to the creation of wetlands around beaver habitats – thick reed beds, marshland, deep pools – which have a positive impact on wildlife diversification and sequestering carbon, a vital natural defence against the climate emergency.

Hussey picks his way through nettles to another, larger dam, which winds across the river under a canopy of oak, hazel and plane trees, and is strewn with the leaves of the corn plant grown on the nearby farm. A fish jumps out of the pond that has formed behind the dam's barrier. Birdsong breaks the silence of the forest.

“We're used to our environment being orderly,” says Hussey. “To many people, this seems a bit more chaotic, but it's a patchwork of habitats.”

According to a study by the University of Exeter, the wetlands created by beavers store a total of more than 24 million litres of water, which is roughly the size of ten Olympic swimming pools.

Using data from the Environment Agency's river monitoring stations, researchers have found that beaver dams and their wetlands can reduce rainfall during heavy rains by an average of 30% – thereby reducing the risk of flooding for downstream communities.

On Thursday, the Wildlife Trusts released a “vision” – essentially a call to action – stressing that releasing beavers into the wild will provide an effective natural means of restoration for struggling wetlands.

“The benefits of beavers are widely recognised and well documented – yet across England and Wales, the reintroduction of this keystone species has stalled,” said Rob Stoneman, Director of Landscape Restoration at the Wildlife Trusts. “As we face climate and nature crises, we need beavers back in the wild to help us meet these challenges.”

He added: “Governments of each country must accept that beavers are here to stay and embrace the great positive aspects they bring so that society can also benefit from them.”

The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the UK and Welsh governments to publish a strategy for the reintroduction of beavers, provide funding to farmers and land managers to create more space for water on their land, support management groups, confirm that all wild beavers can stay in England and Wales, recognise the animals as a native species in Wales and give them comprehensive legal protection.

A Department for Environment, Food and Farming spokesman said: “This government is absolutely committed to restoring and protecting nature and we support the reintroduction of species where it brings clear benefits to nature, people and the environment. We will continue to work with Natural England to develop our approach to reintroducing beavers in England.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are considering a package of proposals following a review of the evidence by Natural Resources Wales. This includes examining the most appropriate options for legal protection of the European beaver, as well as policy and management proposals.”