FAQ: Why reintroduce the beaver to Scotland?
The beaver became extinct in Britain in the 16th Century, primarily due to hunting for its pelt, meat and the medicinal properties of a secretion from its anal gland ('castoreum'). It is a missing element in our native biodiversity. The beaver is what is known as a 'keystone' species' in forest and riverbank environments. There are few species which have such significant and positive influences on ecosystem health and function.
By modifying their habitats through coppicing, feeding and in some cases damming (beavers living on lochs or large rivers have little need of dams), beavers has a positive effect on biodiversity.
The modifications of their local environment bring enormous benefits to other species (including otters, water shrews, water voles, birds, invertebrates especially dragonflies, and breeding fish) and create more diverse habitats (there are 13 species of dragonfly in Knapdale and all will benefit from beaver-related habitat modification).
In effect, they are a natural way of creating and maintaining habitats. Their dams can hold water in periods of drought, regulate flooding and improve water quality by holding silt behind dams, and catch acidic and agricultural run-off. Beavers coppice broadleaved trees and bushes and this helps diversify surrounding habitat structures. Coppicing has been a normal process through most of history for bankside trees and the actions of beavers will make the woodland more natural. They normally forage close to water with activity concentrated within 20 m of the water's edge
There is also the moral responsibility for their restoration: under the EU’s Habitats Directive, the government is obliged to consider reintroductions of extinct native species.
The beaver: keystone species of wet woodland and forest
