Beavers: the pros and cons of wild releasing in rural England

Beaver reintroductions have become increasingly common in England, but so far have either been ‘captive releases’ or illegal releases. Last week, Defra announced that Natural England would be able to issue ‘wild release’ licenses from now on. This follows a consultation on wild release licensing in 2021, which the CLA responded to. One wild release license has already been granted in Purbeck in Dorset, where four beavers have now been released. 

Proponents of beaver reintroductions, and particularly those involved with captive releases, have welcomed the long-awaited news, citing the benefits of beavers for restoring rivers and wetlands, and regulating water flow. However, many land managers are concerned about the potential for conflict between beavers and farm businesses, including the potential flooding of agricultural land and damage to trees.

Defra’s announcement says that Natural England can now accept, assess, and grant licenses which will allow the wild release of beavers in England. Until now, have been ‘captive releases’ of beavers in England, meaning that they have been let go into enclosed areas. Under the new licenses, beavers will be able to roam freely.

All wild beaver releases will need to apply for a license, including moving existing individuals from enclosed areas to the wild by removing fences, and adding additional beavers to illegally released populations for genetic reinforcement.

Projects who wish to apply for a wild release license will submit an 'expression of interest' form to Natural England before 2 May 2025. Using this process should regulate the pace of reintroductions. There will be further expression of interest windows in future, but the next window is not expected until 2026. 

Natural England will assess the submissions, and either invite the project to submit a full license application if it is expected to meet the wild release criteria, or explain why the project is not suitable for licensing. Natural England wants applications to cover an entire river catchment as a minimum and applications could cover multiple catchments. In practice, this might mean multiple organisations working together for one wild release license.

The announcement also stated that, moving forwards, captive releases will only be used in specific circumstances. Those circumstances have yet to be confirmed. 

When determining whether to grant a wild release license, Natural England will use the newly published wild release criteria, which they say will ensure that licenses are only granted to high-benefit, low-risk projects. They also say that effective management will avoid damage from beavers in most instances. Projects will only be considered if beavers will have positive environmental outcomes, such as wetland creation or natural flood management. If the project will cause significant negative effects, which outweigh the positives and cannot be avoided or mitigated, then a license will not be granted.

Wild releases will need a ten-year project plan, including an exit strategy that covers both successful delivery of the project and early termination due to failure or other factors. Natural England must be consulted before a project starts their exit strategy. The aim of the exit strategy is to ensure a smooth transition into the long-term presence of beavers in the landscape.

We have been expecting this announcement for some time and know that some members will be delighted by the news. Our position on wild releases is based on discussions with members, including our branch and national committees, ahead of our submission to the consultation in 2021.

Our biggest concern with species translocations is that while the benefits of reintroductions are often spread across society, the costs are often disproportionately born by land managers. For example, a beaver population may lead to a reduction in flooding downstream, which has clear benefits, but there could be localised flooding of agricultural land and harm to trees. Without proper support for land managers, it is easy to see why farmers are concerned by last week’s announcement.

A balance must be struck between an overly restrictive licensing process which may inadvertently encourage illegal releases and the need for a licensing process to be rigorous enough to ensure that the positives and negatives of a reintroduction are properly considered. 

A major concern is that beaver reintroductions are long-term and irreversible. Natural England and Defra’s approach is that management plans are required at first, but the risk will diminish over time as people learn to live with beavers. This is an untested theory. 

The introduction of a new species with few predators will require human management in the longer term to avoid populations getting out of hand. As beavers are a protected species, there ought to be measures in place to control them. The CLA accepts that translocation and lethal control of beavers should only take place when other avenues have been exhausted, however, where this is the case these options should be available quickly and easily.

The importance of good communication with impacted land managers cannot be understated. Acknowledging the potential for negative impacts and explaining how they will be dealt with is essential. Land managers are far more likely to be reassured if they know that a process is in place to deal with any problems, rather than simply being told that such risks are minimal. Much harm can be done by ignoring or dismissing landowner concerns and/or adopting the view that the general publics’ enthusiasm for beaver release should prevail over the concerns of local people and businesses which will be impacted.

The CLA supports the use of beaver-free zones as a management technique. In some parts of the country, for example the Somerset Levels, beavers will not be an appropriate addition to the landscape. In such cases, tolerance and making space for beavers is also not appropriate. Ecological and hydrological data should be used to determine which areas should be beaver free. 

Many of the concerns we raised in our response to the consultation have not been addressed. 

In the immediate future, our biggest concern is that there is very little funding in place to support land managers impacted by future releases. The announcement stated that there is support through Enviromental Land Management (ELM) schemes for creating space for beavers, protecting assets including trees and crops, and creating or restoring habitats and processes that beaver activity could contribute to. In light of the recent news around Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), and with Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier currently running on an invite-only system, we are concerned that this translates to very little support in practice. Given the public goods that beavers can deliver, it is crucial that financial support is provided to the land managers most affected by beavers, who are able to fund the necessary management and recoup any financial losses.

We were pleased to see acknowledgement within the announcement that there can be negative effects of beaver reintroductions on farming, which will be addressed through a rigorous risk assessment and the existing management framework. We would like to see this support go further, and the UK Government must publish guidance for those likely to be impacted by wild releases, including support for those engaged in woodland management, commercial fishing, and commercial forestry (including specific enterprises such as cricket bat willow and short rotation coppice). The guidance should focus on how to identify the presence of beavers early on and any steps a business can take to minimise risk from beavers.

Defra and Natural England hope that the introduction of wild release licenses will prevent illegal releases, but we are not convinced this will be the case. Illegal releases happen without engagement with land managers, a factor which is crucial to beaver release success. We are disappointed that more is not being done to treat illegal releases seriously.

The CLA will continue to engage with national and local level beaver management forums and make the case for the need for better funding and more guidance. 

If you have questions, Natural England has a phoneline available from 10am-3pm on weekdays, 0300 060 3900. 

You can also get in touch with your regional CLA office for advice.