Beaver Update
On the 21st November 2016, rewilding history was made in Britain when the Scottish government officially welcomed back beavers (Castor fiber) to Scotland after a successful reintroduction programme. This is the first formal reintroduction of a native mammal to the UK and a huge milestone for conservationists and campaigners keen to see further lost habitats and species restored to the British Isles.
The beavers, reintroduced from Norway, are to be allowed to naturally expand, and will receive legal protection, the Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham announced. An official reintroduction pilot began in 2009, when Norwegian beavers were reintroduced in Knapside, Argyll. However, simultaneous illegal releases in Tayside saw a rapid blossoming of beaver populations. Both established populations are to be allowed to stay, although Ms Cunningham stressed that further illegal releases would be met with swift legal action.
Some angry landowners have previously been shooting beavers found on their land, and one report estimated that 21 beavers had been shot in 2010. Although landowners are permitted to manage their property by protecting trees and modifying dams to allow water flow, their new legal protection should deter further shooting.
Historically, beavers were persecuted and hunted to extinction in Britain between the 12th and 16th Centuries, and now for the first time are to be granted official native species status in Scotland. Beaver reintroduction has been successful in many countries across Europe, and the Scottish government will be working under the EU Habitat Directive to ensure that the beavers’ return is harmonious, and limit their possible impact on farmers and landowners.
Ms Cunningham was outspoken in the benefits beavers have brought to Scotland when interviewed about the government’s decision. She said:
‘‘Beavers promote biodiversity by creating new ponds and wetlands, which in turn provide valuable habitats for a wide range of other species.
“We want to realise these biodiversity benefits while limiting adverse impacts on farmers and other land users. This will require careful management.’’
Scotland’s move offers hope to conservationists and projects who are working to reintroduce the species in other areas of the UK. The Welsh Beaver Project, or Prosiect Afancod Cymru, are investigating the feasibility of restoring wild beavers to Wales, have applied for a license to release the animals, and are hoping they can secure a release date later this year. The decision of the Scottish government is founded upon the positive impact of beavers on the environment in their pilot study, and may help pave the way for organisations like the Welsh Beaver Project. A partner organisation, the Bevis Trust, have applied to Natural Resources Wales to release ten pairs of beavers in Carmarthenshire. Whilst NRW consider the application, the public can visit the Bevis Trust’s livestock farm in West Wales, for a chance to observe their three beaver families in a large, outdoor enclosure, where they live and behave as they would in their natural environment.
Beavers in Ireland
The European or Eurasian Beaver (Castor fibre) has been brought back from extinction by conservationists. The last native strongholds of the beaver was in the wilds of Norway and Germany. Since 2009 conservationists have introduced them into trial areas in Devon, Cornwall, Scotland and Wales. The Scottish Government has now included them as a native species, giving them added status and protection. The beaver population appears to be thriving but not everybody is happy. The NFU, the organisation representing farmers, considers that it is an unnecessary luxury for the wildlife enthusiasts. Funding of each trial, costing about one million a year to manage, could better be spent on conserving other species of animals and insects, they argue. Being one of the biggest rodents in the world, they are known for their destructive habits of changing landscapes. If they become too populous our wooded low lands will become boggy marshes. The conservationists think more species will benefit from this natural habitat changer. However sufficient funding is needed to control and manage them as the they will ultimately cause hindrance, animosity and enormous costs to landowners up and down the country. The angling lobby has been persuaded that the beaver does not alter fish stocks as it is primarily a vegetarian that prefers apples to salmon. There are many pros and cons for introducing the beaver. It may help the tourism sector and help certain conservation measures but it will also increase gun sales to riverside landowners who wish to ignore its protected status.
Although talks have already started in Ireland about beaver introduction, it has been promptly rebuffed by the anti-lobby claiming that there is no evidence that beavers were ever in Ireland, therefore no need to even discuss it under the EU Habitats Directive. Although I belong to the protesters, I have actually found evidence that beavers were indigenous to Ireland, just as they were to Scotland, Wales and England.
In Brú na Bóinne are large stones called kerbstones that surround the prehistoric temples and tombs at Newgrange. They were carved 5000 years ago by the most skilled artists that lived in Northern Europe. 70% of the kerbstones show spirals and geometric magical shapes that can only be deciphered if you happen to be in a hallucinatory state. The other 30% show carvings of animal scenes or every day events, like men moving stones by sea or land.
Amongst the kerb stones depicting animals, at least four show pictures and carvings of beavers. Beavers were generally considered not to have ever lived in Ireland. After seeing one stone with the head of both an otter and a beaver on it, and knowing many stones have come considerable distances by sea, I considered the stone and its artwork must have been imported to Newgrange from Scotland or Wales. I then discovered another three stones showing beavers, suggesting that they were local stones and the mammal was indigenous to Ireland.
Neolithic and Chalcolithic man lived in harmony with nature. They lived in a material world and a nonmaterial world. They respected certain stones, regarding them like living ancestors. Their animism beliefs were paramount, and they would not harm a tree or an animal unless it was important. The Newgrange Kerbstone K61 shows that they regarded the beaver as a rodent which must be killed. They must have been prejudiced against the animal because the beaver was destroying trees that they valued more.
This Newgrange kerbstone was an instructional aid, thousands of years before the script of Ogham, the written word, came into being. The Early Bronze Age people still used bows and arrows and flints but they were advanced farmers, breeding sheep, cattle, horses and dogs. They had a much greater respect for Mother Earth than we can ever envisage and yet the only animal they detested was the beaver. We should acknowledge and respect the wisdom of our ancestors. Many more stones in Newgrange and Knowth have words of wisdom embedded in them. Until now nobody has interpreted the narratives of these kerbstones, basically because few have even noticed the pictorial figurative images on these rock panels.
Archaeological studies are needed to look for other stories the stones are telling us. These Irish farmers may have been living 3000 BCE. but they were a damn site smarter than many of us ever imagined!
Written and researched by Tom Bennett 2018. Happyfish42@hotmail.com