A conservation ‘tail’ — what lessons can Scotland learn from its beaver reintroductions?

Peter Ranscombe explores the rules and regulations surrounding the reintroduction of beavers and other species to Scotland and asks what changes might need to be made.

With their sharp, chisel-like teeth and their massive flat tails, beavers are one of Scotland’s most distinctive species. Often called ‘nature’s engineers’, beavers chop down trees to build dams and lodges, which reshapes watercourses and extends wetlands.

Eurasian beavers don’t eat fish but instead feast on grasses, shrubs and other aquatic plants in the summer and then woodier plants in the winter. Yet the ways that beavers modify the landscape do affect fish and can bring the creatures into conflict with humans.

Beavers were once native to Scotland but were hunted to extinction, with the final pockets thought to have been wiped out as long ago as the 16th century. Their reintroduction has been complex and often controversial.

A random beaver was spotted on the River Earn in Perthshire in 2001, followed by further sightings in other rivers throughout Tayside. Academics attributed the presence of beavers to illegal releases and escapees from private collections. In 2018, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) – the Scottish Government agency since rebranded as NatureScot – estimated that the Tay beaver population had reached around 430.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland – which runs Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park in Strathspey – began releasing beavers under a licence from SNH in 2009 at Knapdale in Argyll as part of the Scottish Beaver Trial, which published its report in 2015. More widely, the European Union Habitats Directive required member states to consider reintroducing species that had become extinct, with scores of beavers being moved or ‘translocated’ across the continent during the 1990s.

The Scottish Government designated the beaver as a ‘European Protected Species’ in 2019 under the 1994 Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulation, with Scotland’s Beaver Strategy published in 2022, along with a management framework to control individual beavers causing damage, with NatureScot issuing licences to kill or move the animals.

Since protection was introduced, beavers have been moved under licence into areas including the River Forth’s catchment, Loch Lomond, the Cairngorms and Glen Affric, as part of national efforts to expand wetlands to cope with the increased rainfall and flooding triggered by the climate crisis. Last year, [NatureScot invited expressions of interest from organisations, communities and land managers wanting to move beavers into other river catchments.

Wild animals or ‘ferae naturae’

“Beavers are regarded as a former native species in Scotland under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and hence were not legally protected until they were made a European Protected Species in 2019 and were added to Schedule 2 of the protected species listed under the Habitats Regulations 1994, as amended,” explains Jenny Bryce, NatureScot’s wildlife ecology manager.

“When beavers are reintroduced or translocated within their natural range they are regarded as wild animals, ferae naturae, which – in legal terms – means they are unowned and no one is responsible for their actions. However, release licences normally have some conditions around monitoring and support for mitigation, and NatureScot offers free advice and some support for mitigation as we learn to live with this native species again.”

When it comes to learning lessons from the reintroduction of beavers if other species were to be reintroduced, Jenny adds: “Legislation and policy relating to reintroductions should be enabling – where on balance they would bring benefits – rather than perceived as barriers that could lead to unauthorised ‘guerilla’ releases. The Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations is there to properly assess the risks and benefits and to ensure projects have the best chance of success.”

Damage to flood-banks causes concern

“Beavers cut down trees to build dams, and we can live with that to a certain extent,” explains Duncan Macalister, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Scotland. “The problem comes when beavers burrow into flood-banks and destabilise them, which causes flooding.

“Only 15% of Scotland’s land is good ground for farming, and then only a very small amount is what I’d call really good ground, which can be used to grow primary crops, such as carrots, which can be eaten without any further processing. Flooding brings huge financial consequences for farmers, running into hundreds of thousands of pounds or more.

“The Scottish Government has helped on a couple of occasions to rebuild these flood-banks but, on a day-to-day basis, there’s no formal compensation for damage caused by protected species, and no insurance is available.”

Duncan thinks the Government hasn’t given enough thought in the past to a ‘Plan B’ if reintroduced species – such as beavers or white-tailed eagles – come into conflict with humans. He also thinks the licensing system should be changed to make it easier to control beavers that are causing damage.

“In my personal opinion, the licensing system is weighted too much towards the wildlife – there’s got to be a better balance,” he says. “At the moment, the Government is acting as both policeman and jury. We need a third party to be making evidence-based decisions on licences to control beavers.

“At the moment, it’s too politicised. Farmers love nature – we’re the custodians of nature – but it’s got to be balanced, and the Government has now put it out of balance.”

More funding needed for compensation schemes

Nadia Flaherty, a wildlife management policy adviser at membership body Scottish Land & Estates, points out: “Beavers are very much welcomed where they are in the right place, but more must be done to support land managers in areas where their presence causes significant conflict and stress.

“A robust, fully funded management and mitigation scheme, which is practical and workable for land managers, is essential. Mitigation should also take into account that while beavers may be released in optimum locations, they can and will move to others, and we have to have tools available to cope with that.”

She adds: “Improvement is needed in the management of reintroduced species where conflicts and unintended consequences arise. This should include stronger feedback mechanisms between land managers, NatureScot and the Scottish Government to ensure that concerns are identified and addressed promptly.

“Adequate funding must be available to support necessary compensation and mitigation measures, while NatureScot should be equipped with the resources and flexibility to respond swiftly when the behaviour or impact of reintroduced species differ from expectations or create unforeseen challenges.”