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Author Topic: Reintroduction of beavers  (Read 4522 times)


Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2020, 12:40:45 pm »
Yes, a very interesting topic!  I assume you are wanting opinions.  As a generalisation, conservationists are all for beavers repopulating Britain's rivers, many land owners are against it.
Britain has huge problems with flooding - beavers can't cure all those problems, but given time and support they can help solve many. Beavers adjust the landscape in such a way that they slow down the water flow of rivers and streams, because they prefer slow water to live in. To the casual observer, this seems to cause flooding, but only in areas where agriculture has taken over from old water meadows, or removed trees from watercourse edges.  Beavers make their dams and food stores by coppicing trees such as willow and alder; the result may look chaotic at first but the trees soon regrow and form an even denser area, which slows water and allows it to be absorbed into the ground, or join a watercourse but slowly.
Some farmers want to cultivate every square inch of their land, right down to the water's edge, and right up to their fences.  This encourages flooding as water is made to flow fast over the land surface, carrying away soil and not allowing plants and trees to take root.  By giving up a small area for remodelling by beavers, the results in flood prevention, both on the farmer's own land and for people living in towns and villages downstream, are surely worth the investment?
Add to that the fact that by returning small areas to wetlands, which is effectively what the beavers are doing, native trees and flowers along with their insect, amphibian and bird populations will return to areas which are currently wildlife deserts.
I think beavers are wonderful creatures - if only we had a stream on our land  :thinking: :sunshine:
« Last Edit: August 18, 2020, 12:44:47 pm by Fleecewife »
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2020, 01:47:23 pm »
Fine, if landowners are properly compensated.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2020, 01:59:27 pm »
Fine, if landowners are properly compensated.


Why? If our intensive agriculture is contributing to ever more flooding and we have some natural ways of reducing it, then that should take precedence. Just looking at the colour of the water of our river when it is in spate makes me despair about all the soil erosion further upstream...


We have to come to terms with not being able to "rule" over nature as we have done in the last 50 or so years, and regarding wildlife the last 500 or so years....




Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2020, 05:07:04 pm »
Fine, if landowners are properly compensated.

It's really the other way round - as intensive farming methods and deforestation are causing so many flooding problems then the compensation and payment for anti-flood measures and damage to property should be coming from the guilty landowners.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Buttermilk

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2020, 06:55:46 pm »
Not all farming is intensive but land loss to imported wildlife can still impact the viability of farming an in an area.  Reduce the value of land and the poor farmer is in the position of not being able to afford to live where they are and not being able to afford to move.

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2020, 07:35:51 pm »
Not about beavers, but saw an article yesterday about potential reintroduction of Lynx to Scotland:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-tayside-central-53801923
What do you think of that?  ;)
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

sheeponthebrain

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Turriff
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2020, 07:51:32 pm »
beaver release. why not, crack on.  i mean its  not like we can think of any other non native species introduced to the uk that have had a negative effect on other native species.  well exept grey squirrels. oh and bracken.  oh and rhodedendrum. not to mention sea eagles who apparently love fulmers as a protein filled snack.  (really must learn to proof read before posting hellish spelling mistakes) :innocent:
« Last Edit: August 20, 2020, 09:44:39 pm by sheeponthebrain »

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #8 on: August 18, 2020, 10:00:08 pm »
Not all farming is intensive but land loss to imported wildlife can still impact the viability of farming an in an area.  Reduce the value of land and the poor farmer is in the position of not being able to afford to live where they are and not being able to afford to move.


Surely beavers are not imported wildlife.... they are native to the British Isles but were hunted to extinction?

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #9 on: August 18, 2020, 11:20:27 pm »
Not all farming is intensive but land loss to imported wildlife can still impact the viability of farming an in an area.  Reduce the value of land and the poor farmer is in the position of not being able to afford to live where they are and not being able to afford to move.


Surely beavers are not imported wildlife.... they are native to the British Isles but were hunted to extinction?

Correct - beavers are a species native to Britain.  They became extinct here about 400 years ago as a result of overhunting and persecution.  Where man has caused an extinction like that then reintroduction of the species seems perfectly justifiable, especially where they can do good. 
I know there is a keen group wanting to reintroduce lynx to the Scottish Highlands and to Derwent Water.  My own feeling on that is that we don't have large enough areas of really wild land to support a viable population which would not be inbred and could be self sustaining.  Sadly I think the same applies to wolves.  Experience in Europe shows that many of the conditions which caused the demise of these species still apply - hunting by the local human population being the main one.  Unfortunately the natural numbers of wild prey species are no longer around so any reintroduced predators would starve or resort to taking domestic livestock and pets, which in turn would lead to persecution again.  This is very different to beavers which are wholely vegetarian, and cultivate their own coppiced food and building materials.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Buttermilk

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2020, 07:07:17 am »
We once had dinosaurs but any reintroduction would not be natural.  400 years is a long time for other wildlife to expand to fill a niche.

You may guess that I am against reintroductions of most things on priciple.

arobwk

  • Joined Nov 2015
  • Kernow: where 2nd-home owners rule !
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #11 on: August 20, 2020, 12:30:08 am »
Worth a try I reckon BUT NOT TOO FAST !  But seems that remark is too late:  there is, I understand, not-contained beaver populations already.  How did that happen then ?!

oor wullie

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Strathnairn
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #12 on: August 20, 2020, 04:28:13 am »
beaver release. why not, crack on.  i mean its  not like we can think of any other non native species introduced to the uk that have had a negative effect on other fnative species.  well exept grey squirrels. oh and bracken.  oh and rhodedendrum. nit to mention sea eagles who aooarently love fulmers as a protein filled snack

Calling sea eagles non-native is pushing it a bit.
The last one was shot in 1918, they were re-introduced in 1975 so we're only absent for 52 years, that's just 2 generations (of eagles)

Jbhopkins

  • Joined Jul 2020
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #13 on: August 20, 2020, 08:22:43 am »
Heard the were reintroduced up in Alyth Perthshire.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Reintroduction of beavers
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2020, 12:33:22 pm »



So [member=24672]harmony[/member] having introduced the topic, what are your opinions and thoughts?
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

 

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