Beavers in Cornwall
There's exciting news from the beautiful county of Cornwall and the Wildlife Trust there.
The Wildlife Trust sent information about their appeal to bring beavers back to Cornwall. It seems that just 1.8% of Cornwall is wetland habitat - and yet in the past, huge areas of the country would have been covered with it. This puts the county at high risk from climate change because of more frequent droughts.
And that means that wildlife such as dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, wading birds and other mammals are affected.
Enter the beaver! A highly effective eco-engineer, they can benefit wildlife and people by creating wetlands. Their efforts will be many - reduced flooding, better water quality, CO2 can be absorbed, and wildlife will have habitat - they really are amazing animals! Birds, dragonflies, damselflies and bats are just some of the wildlife who will benefit from the beavers' beavering.
And the timing is right - the UK Government is accepting applications for the licensed wild release of beavers! Beavers, get to it!
Beavers won't just appear...humans need to do some work too!
Meet the beaver family in the video opposite. (I think this is a great video, I've watched it about six times already.)
Cornwall Wildlife Trust has the chance to release multiple pairs of beavers into the wild. They've already done a lot towards this, such as identifying the where, gathering data, talking to others who have a stake in the work, and coming up with A Plan. Long term, the vision is to have a self-sustaining, diverse population of beavers. And to make this happen, we all need to get weaving and get involved.
The estimate is that the project will cost about £800,000 over 10 years. Those lovely folk at Cornwall based St Eval , who make wildly scented candles, are kindly supporting the project over 3 years (donating £150,000, a huge thank you to them) - you can find out how here .
The public appeal hopes to raise £80,000 to support initial costs, such as a staffing vehicle, beaver traps, surveying and monitoring and the beavers themselves. The Trust already been developing its wild release license for two years.
The beavers, of course, just want to get on with it all.
You and I can help the beavers create a bigger, better wetland for wildlife. We can help make this happen!
Image at the top of this page is copyright Niklas Hamann, what an amazing photographer!
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