Exmoor has just witnessed the first beaver birth in more than 400 years. Last August, fisherman Simon Cooper argued for caution when it comes to reintroducing the extinct species.
The verdict is in: hooray for beavers! The rodents that once roamed the wetlands of Britain, hunted to extinction in the 16th century, have been gradually returning to our rivers for some years now.
The first, discovered on the River Tay in 2006, had either escaped from enclosures or, more probably, were deliberately (and illegally) released into the wild. In England the first were found on the River Otter in Devon in 2013. Following a five-year report by the Devon Wildlife Trust, the environment minister Rebecca Pow this month gave them the right to live, roam and reproduce. The report’s conclusion was overwhelmingly positive. Beavers attract tourists and promote ecological diversity. Their dams might even help fight climate change and flooding.
In February, some of us concerned with the future of England’s chalk streams met in a Dorset village hall near Tolpuddle to offer a contrary view. The ecological great and good — Natural England, the National Trust, the Dorset Wildlife Trust — sent representatives to deliver their verdict in the name of consultation.
Chalk streams are often called ‘England’s rainforests’. They are unique, delicate ecosystems, home to many rare, vulnerable species, including water vole and damselfly. They are the corridor of life for the Atlantic salmon, the European eel, the brown trout. They are scarce and are almost exclusively English: of the 225 that exist globally, 215 are in England.
Since their flow is gentle, impoundments — whether the result of man or nature — can cause serious problems. Like a blocked gutter, dams bung up the system, trapping detritus that festers.
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