In November 2024 Mike Russell was invited to lead a talk with Henfield Birdwatch members and guests on 'Bringing Beavers back to Britain'.
Beavers are gradually returning to the British Countryside after an absence of over 400 years. They are true ecosystem engineers; capable of transforming landscapes by building dams across ditches and streams and felling trees. Beaver-created wetlands are fabulous for birds such as Teal, Snipe and Sandpipers, and also increase the abundance of bats, amphibians and other wetland wildlife.
Whilst these wetlands also bring many benefits to society by storing water, reducing flooding and improving the quality of the water flowing downstream, their return doesn’t come without controversy. Artificial drainage systems designed to enable farming and development can be obstructed, and some fishermen believe they will impact on fish migration.
Although beavers have been introduced into fenced enclosures in England since 2003, the only licenced wild release has been into the River Otter in Devon where the Devon Wildlife Trust ran a government-sanctioned trial to study their effects in the wider landscape. This showed the effects to be generally positive, and that issues arising could be managed.
Following the success of this trial, the government announced in 2020 that beavers would be recognised as a native resident species once again and given legal protection. Other wild populations have sprung up through escapes and unlicenced ‘beaver bombing’ and there are now large numbers of wild beavers living in at least five river catchments, and smaller numbers elsewhere.
Mark Elliott is an ecological consultant who is involved nationally in the UK Beaver Introduction Programme that includes the Knepp Re-wilding Project that will have consequences for the River Adur locally. Mark is a Sussex lad having been brought up in Hassocks and from a very early age he developed a passion for anything that lives in wetlands. At the age of 10, he became a founding member of the Sussex Amphibian and Reptile Group.
This passion led him to a varied and interesting conservation career including a time at the Sussex Wildlife Trust as their Wetlands Officer. He has also worked for the Environment Agency and West Sussex County Council before he moved to the Devon Wildlife Trust and became responsible for leading the first government sponsored trial on the River Otter in Devon. Mark has also been involved with the Knepp Wildling Project since the early days and has run many of the beaver safaris there in recent years. He now offers training events on Beaver Ecology there.
Mike Russell, chair, Henfield Birdwatch
(Photo Credit: David Plummer)
