Beaver releases into wild to be allowed in England for first time in centuries

The release of beavers into English waterways is to be allowed for the first time in centuries, the Guardian can reveal.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, is to announce that nature groups will be able to get a licence for the release. The first releases could happen this autumn.

Until about 20 years ago, the rodent had been extinct in Britain for 400 years, having been hunted for their fur, meat and scent oil. But in recent years, beavers have been returning to our waterways via licensed releases into enclosures and some illegal releases. There are estimated to be about 500 living in the wild in England.

Beavers create useful habitats for wildlife and reduce flooding by breaking up waterways, slowing water flow and creating still pools.

The government will set out a new approach that will allow beavers to live wild. Release projects will need to set out a 10-year plan to show where and how they would have an impact on the landscape.

It is understood there were hesitations in government over releasing the beavers, and Reed’s plan was stalled by No 10 because of concerns it was a Conservative legacy project that could needlessly upset farmers. After the Guardian reported this blocking of the policy, there was outcry from wildlife groups. Defra was in recent days given the green light for the announcement.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is understood to have made representations to Downing Street that beavers could be part of Labour’s growth mission, as the rodents work for free to build infrastructure and restore nature. The industrious animals recently saved the Czech government £1m by building a dam.

Richard Benwell, the chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, welcomed the news. “Restoring nature means restoring whole ecosystems, and few can beat the beaver in helping bring landscapes to life,” he said.

“These much-loved animals can help restore rivers and wetlands and reduce flooding and drought. Their eco-engineering creates diverse habitats that are great for local communities and for wildlife. It’s high time for wild releases and excellent that the government is making progress.”

There are beaver plans ready to go. One such scheme is the National Trust’s Purbeck Heaths release project in Dorset, and the Wildlife Trusts organisation has sites in Devon and Cornwall where it wishes to release beavers.

This week, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, Tom Bradshaw, said farmers should be able to kill unruly beavers: “You’ve got to have the final control method in place. And if beavers end up in the wrong place, then that lethal control has to be part of being able to have that species reintroduced more widely.”

Current plans, published under the previous government, suggest such lethal control will be allowed as a last resort. The Guardian understands that plans to be published imminently will include support for farmers who have their fields inadvertently flooded by beavers. The aim is for the return of beavers to be carefully managed to avoid a negative impact on farming, food production and infrastructure.

This policy is almost a decade in the making. The former Tory environment secretary Michael Gove announced a beaver release trial in 2017. In 2020, the results of a trial of wild-living beavers on the River Otter in Devon found they reduced flooding in local settlements and the habitat they created increased biodiversity, as well as the size of local fish.

But lobbying from farming groups and landowners has made successive governments nervous to allow the signoff of a release plan.

Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative peer and former environment minister, had tried when in office to get governments to give the green light to beaver releases.

He said: “It’s great this is finally being resolved. It should never have taken so long. The beaver has a near-magical effect on the environment, retaining water, massively boosting biodiversity and bringing joy to our nature-loving public. Governments are always cautious but the case for beavers couldn’t be clearer.”