agrees the rodents are a “valuable and low cost” part of the river restoration toolkit.
The Government had planned to remove the uninvited beavers before allowing them to stay for a five-year trial period in the first legal reintroduction of an extinct native mammal to England. When considering the impact of beavers on river health, Dr Holden believes it is important to stop thinking of the waterways as this “thin blue band” in the landscape.
Dr Holden says river trusts that have visited the River Otter have been impressed by the beavers’ dam-building activity. “We’re not used to that, we’re stuck in a mindset of being the only species that controls our land. So we need to find ways to educate about beaver impacts and management and, importantly, give nature a little space around rivers.