Beavers must be manageable: our letter to The Courier

European -beaver -6-lcampbell Sir

Jim Crumley again fails to see the larger picture in terms of wildlife management. These large rodents may in some places have a role to play in the environment, but the evidence for net benefits is limited as yet; so, for example, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) is supporting research into their effects on trout spawning streams.

But, with beavers now firmly part of the scene, such heavily emotive articles are unhelpful as there are real needs to address over the cost of protecting valuable arable fields from beaver damage.

Beavers, and the results of their activity such as dams, must be manageable. Many land managers in Scotland are responsible for managing local wildlife such as deer, so why not beavers? It increasingly appears both here, and from evidence in Europe, that beavers can have an impact on economic activity such as farming.

It is surely irresponsible to release the species, which has been missing from our now heavily managed landscape for many years, and turn a blind eye to the consequences, leaving farmers to pick up the bill or worse be unable to act at all?

A plan for the adaptive management of this species, while under protection, is now needed.

Yours sincerely

Dr Adam Smith
Director, Scotland
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust

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Comments

Beaver Management

at 22:41 on 16/02/2016 by Dr Nick Fox, OBE. International Wildlife Consultants Ltd.

I agree with your GWCT letter. Our application to restore beavers in Wales, currently under consideration by Natural Resources Wales, is made directly by local farmers and includes a robust and practical management plan, up to and including lethal controls. (We have even trialled five beaver recipes in Bavaria!) Beavers were present in SW Wales until at least the 1600s. They have a lot of positives to offer as a keystone species for wetland habitats, but no species, be they beavers, badgers or birds of prey, should be exempt from legal, humane management. We have a trained beaver management team with resources such as live traps and monitoring equipment and we hope that beavers can become an example of sensible practical management. The UK government has struggled with badgers, used the fox as a political football, and turned a blind eye to wild boar. But, despite the prevarications of Scottish politicians, the beaver is here to stay. Realistically no politician is going to attempt to exterminate the 200 or so Tayside beavers. So we may as well take the bull by the horns, develop a nationwide team of beaver managers and provide them with a practical legal framework so that beavers can thrive alongside agricultural and sporting interests to the benefit of all.

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