Video shows beavers settling into their new Yorkshire home
Caught on camera having a good old scratch and chewing on their wooded surroundings recent footage from the trail cameras at the beaver site in Yorkshire shows that the beavers are settling in nicely to their new home.
In April this year, Forestry England brought a pair of Eurasian Beavers from Scotland to Cropton Forest in Yorkshire for a revolutionary trial in natural flood management.
Cath Bashforth, Ecologist, Yorkshire Forest District, Forestry England said:
“It’s great to see the beavers settling in so nicely to their new home in Cropton Forest. The site is ideal for Eurasian beavers with plenty of food and water along the 824 metres of beck and around the two old ornamental fish ponds.
“We have already seen changes to the landscape, the beavers have blocked a leak in the top pond raising the water level, dug some channels to aid their movement in the silted bottom pond and have started building a dam in the river. They have also started opening up the edges of the ponds and river by tree removal to let more light in.”
Forestry England expect that the beavers’ activity in Cropton Forest will improve biodiversity in their new 10-hectare home and may have the potential to reduce the impact of flooding locally. Monitoring will continue on site throughout the five-year project to assess these ecosystem benefits.
For more information visit: https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/beaver-trial-cropton-forest. Video footage can be downloaded here – please credit Forestry England
ENDS
Notes to Editor
1. Forestry England manages and cares for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests, welcoming 230 million visits per year. As England’s largest land manager, we shape landscapes and are enhancing forests for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and businesses to grow. For more information visit forestryengland.uk. Forestry England is an agency of the Forestry Commission.
2. The Eurasian Beaver is a large semi-aquatic native mammal that was once widespread throughout Britain. They were hunted to extinction by the beginning of the 16th Century for their meat, fur and scent glands.
Beavers are a ‘keystone species’ - playing an important role in wetland ecology by creating ecosystems that provide habitats for many other plant, insect and mammal species. Few other animals, aside from humans, have the ability to so drastically modify and shape their surrounding environment. For this reason beavers are often referred to as “ecosystem engineers”.
3. Funding for the Yorkshire project was secured in part by grants from Forest Holidays, North York Moors National Park, and North Yorkshire County Council with support from Naturespy, Flamingo Land Zoo, The Environment Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Derwent Catchment Partnership.
Media Contact:
Becky Ulewicz, Media Relations Officer
e: rebecca.ulewicz@forestryengland.uk p: 0300 067 4017