What will beavers mean for the South East?

Beavers can now be released under a new government licence scheme, meaning wild beavers living in our rivers and streams for the first time in 400 years.

So, what will this mean for the natural world?

The National Farmers Union is concerned that their chewing and flooding of land could impact agriculture.

But pioneering trial schemes that have been running in the South East of England could hold the key to keeping everyone happy and using the beavers as 'ecosystem engineers'.

Paul Hadaway, Director of Conservation at Kent Wildlife Trust said: "We were the first place in England to have beavers released in an enclosed reserve and we did that for habitat restoration.

"Our site was getting dry and the peat was drying out but the beavers dammed it and now it's wet, it's boggy and we've had kingfisher return, water vole and turtledoves which are a national rarity."

The Kent site, Ham Fen near Sandwich, has a stream running through it which was polluted with agricultural run off but the beaver dams have acted as natural filters and vastly improved the water quality.

The National Farmers Union accepts the good that beavers can do but said farmers need to be protected.

David Exwood, Deputy President of the NFU, said: "A beaver in the right place is a good thing, a beaver in the wrong place can be a really bad thing.

"They're industrious animals, they will fell trees, flood river banks, undermine flood defences, they can do a lot of damage."

In Sussex, beavers live at Knepp Rewildling Project and it's hoped that some of their captive animals could be released onto the river Adur.

Matt Phelps, lead ecologist at Knepp, said: "It's important to recognise farmers' concerns.

"There can be some unwanted flooding and they do chew but the benefits of beavers are so profound that there is support for them."

"Some farmers in the West Country actually use beavers for irrigation and so we want people to feel supported and excited about the opportunity."

In Kent, local farmers, landowners, conservationists and the Internal Drainage Board have formed a stakeholders group that monitors the beaver's effects and ensures that all parties are satisfied.

Mr Hadaway said: "I hope that what we've got here can be used as a national model.

"What started out confrontational is now a really good working group and those conversations are going to be so important as we move onto releasing these animals into the wild."

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