Beaver Reintroduction Opinions - Research Invitation

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Take part in this survey on beaver reintroduction.

This research is being carried out as part of a nationwide evaluation of attitudes towards the reintroduction of the Eurasian Beaver to Great Britain, with funding from the Natural Environment Research Council. This piece of research is being conducted from an independent and impartial standpoint meaning that all views would be welcomed and it may be of great interest to many organisations and individuals.

The aims of the research include:

  • To understand the attitudes that are held towards beaver reintroduction across Great Britain, including how beavers may impact upon people and the environment.
  • To understand which beaver management techniques respondents would support and who should take responsibility if a full reintroduction were to take place.
  • To understand how respondents feel the public should be informed of developments.
  • To understand how these views differ between different groups of people.

It is hoped that the results will help to understand the opinions held and how they vary between groups, therefore helping to inform decisions throughout Great Britain about beaver reintroductions. This hopes to include helping to inform policy decisions regarding how the impacts should be managed both in England and Wales if a reintroduction occurs and in Scotland where they have recently been declared native.

Participation will involve anonymously undertaking an online survey that will ask about the above topics. The survey will close on Wednesday March 1st. The survey will include opportunity to receive the results and to enter a draw for an iPad Mini. Please click here to participate in this survey.

 

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Comments

Submitted by Michael Stirk (not verified) on Fri, 2017-02-24 09:43

One only has to actually see and also read about the damage and utter devastation and damage they have done on rivers where they have escaped or been illegally introduced particularly on the river Tay and even more so on one of its' tributaries the Ericht. Frankly these animals should be either be kept in very secure wild life parks or in the true wild countries -but not in the UK. From my experience in Alaska you only see them in the dark been very active and most of the public won't want to be out at night to observe them-rather like badgers as well!

Submitted by Chris Jones (not verified) on Tue, 2017-03-14 08:29

I believe beavers can make a positive impact on the bio-diversity of our riparian habitats, and a positive influence on our hydrology. But I am equally sure that they can have adverse impacts on people in some circumstances. Where this is the case I would advocate non-lethal intervention - removal or limiting dams for example, live trapping and re-location, and eventually killing of individuals where nothing else works. I could envisage a time when populations of beaver became robust enough to support small scale harvesting for meat/fur/castoreum, although that of course is a very long way off.

Submitted by Nick Fox (not verified) on Sat, 2017-04-22 08:25

Come and see for yourself the effects of beavers on lakes and streams in a farmed landscape in Wales. We have three families of beavers living on the farm. Check out www.bevistrust.com for details.

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