Beavers can help tackle Britain’s rising flooding problems, according to a government-sponsored report, as the political debate over whether to reintroduce them continues.
The review found that boosting natural infrastructure like animal habitats, forests, sand dunes, and mudflats, can play a “major role” in protecting people from flooding, by slowing and absorbing the flow of water.
The Environment Agency said it is “mainstreaming” the use of natural protections against flooding, alongside the use of engineered defences, backed by £25m in funding.
For the first time its guidance, last updated in 2017, included an assessment of the role beavers, oyster reefs, and underwater seagrass and kelp can play in protecting against floods and coastal erosion.
It found the beavers – which engineer the ecosystem through building dams and channels – can reduce peak flows, increase groundwater storage, trap sediment, connect up floodplains, support other wildlife and store carbon.
But it says more evidence is needed on the number of dams and how to manage the semi-aquatic mammals.
They were hunted to extinction in Britain around 400 years ago, but have recently made a limited comeback, through trial schemes, escapes from enclosures, and illegal releases.
Their formal reintroduction has bounced up and down the agenda as ministers and governments have come and gone.
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The first trial in the UK was hailed a success when it concluded in 2009, and the animals were allowed to stay put in Argyll, Scotland.
In 2021, Boris Johnson as the prime minister promised to “build back beaver”. But then-environment secretary Therese Coffey later dropped the issue over “other priorities”.
Kitty Thompson from the Conservative Environment Network said: “Despite progress behind the scenes, this unsteady outward attitude towards species reintroductions has been a shame.”
A licensing system would be a “win” for nature, she said, and for farmers by providing guidance if the rodents create problems.
The new Labour government, elected last summer on a mandate to protect the environment, is yet to issue a formal strategy or licences for wild releases, despite mounting evidence and pressure.
In January, Downing Street blocked such plans because some Labour aides viewed it as a “Tory Legacy”, The Guardian reported.
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At the time, The Wildlife Trusts called it “extremely frustrating that wild beaver licences have been blocked”.
Today, a spokesperson for the environment said they are “working closely with Natural England to review options on species reintroduction, including beavers”.
Six in ten people in the UK back beaver reintroduction, according to polling in January by More in Common, including voters from all parties.
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Conservation charities have lobbied the government to bring back beavers as soon as possible. However, fears have been raised about their potential impact on other species, while farmers have concerns about damage to their land and crops.
Dr Owen Middleton, from conservation consultancy Biodiversify, said: “As the UK faces increasingly frequent and severe flooding, it’s heartening to see the government embracing nature-based solutions.”
Flood defences created by beavers are faster and cheaper than human interventions, he said.
The UK’s climate has been getting wetter in recent decades, especially in winter, and is expected to get wetter still under climate change, according to the Met Office, raising the risk of flooding.
The climate and nature crises have renewed interest in natural ways to protect people and the environment.
The review also found tree-planting, pioneered to help combat climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, also tackles flooding by slowing the flow of water, while saltmarshes and mudflats protect coastal areas from storms.
