“I feel real hope”: Historical Beaver publication marks the preservation milestone in England | Wildlife

TThe sun shone, the people carefully paddled in the sea and dogs were up and down on the coast – a typical day on the beautiful coast of Dorset. But the beach visitors probably didn't know that only a few minutes in the interior of the history were written.

On Wednesday, in Purbeck Heath Nature Reserve of the National Trust, four beavers were released from boxes and crawled in Little Sea, a 33 hectare lake. They are the first beavers that are legally released in England after 400 years of absence and a fight to bring them back to the landscape.

The trust says that this is the perfect habitat for the creatures to go through freely, without fenced housing, as it is full of lakes and watercourses so that the beavers can make their home. You have permission to publish 25 on the peninsula, but start with four and then make more publications in the coming years if it goes well.

“I feel real hope,” said David Brown, the nature director of the National Trust near Purbeck, shortly before the beavers were released. “I worked as an ecologist for 40 years, and this is undoubtedly the most optimistic time in my career. We are visible and recovers the nature and it is so exciting that it is a real sum. This hope is so precious. “

Until about 20 years ago, the rodent in Great Britain had died out for 400 years after it had been hunted on fur, meat and fragrance oil. In recent years, however, the beavers have returned to our waterways through licensed publications in our waterways and some illegal publications. In England, an estimated 500 live in the wild. Last week, the government announced that it is now legal for conservationists with a license to leave beaver into the wilderness without the enclosure being necessary.

Next, they hope, the beavers that they have in the enclosure on the Holnicote Estate on Exmoor as well as the south and Wallington. Northumberland.

“The problem with the housings is that they are only a short -term solution because after a few years the kits that the beavers had to do to make their own areas, and there is no place for them,” said Brown.

Conservationists have been fighting for the return of the beaver for decades because they are referred to as Keystone species, the presence of which enables other creatures, including birds, fish and invertebrates. This is because they create complex wetland spaces by digging channels and pools and building leaks. The dams that you create also filter the pollution and contribute to cleaning up rivers and you can prevent both floods and drought.

The beavers published on Wednesday were carefully transported by The Beaver Trust in boxes in the back of a van from the Tay River in Scotland to Dorset. They were on the road from 4 a.m. and arrived in Purbeck in the afternoon.

Gen Crisford, Beaver Project Officer at Purbeck, said: “Since the lake is already deep enough, you don't have to build dams at first, but by creating Glades in Willow Woodland, new areas of open wetlands will benefit from many rare types of reserve, including water books, KEELED SKIMMER LIBELS and Tiny 'Bladerwort' Carnives -Paradia. “

The trust has worked with local farmers and landowners to ensure that the beavers do not cause undesirable disorders. If necessary, they dig holes under upset areas, which are referred to as “beaver fraudsters” in order to confuse and cause the beavers to go elsewhere.

Purbeck hopes that it will lead to year -round natural tourism when people see the beavers and the habitat they create. “We saw a departure from a tourist Bucket-and-Spaden to natural tourism, and that is more sustainable,” said Brown.

Natural Minister Mary Creagh was there to follow the release. She said: “I am thrilled that Wilde Biber have been hunted after centuries after centuries to finally stay here. Today is an important milestone for the recovery of national nature. “

In the coming months, further beaver publications will be expected. Other natural groups, including Wildlife Trusts, have submitted plans to the government in the hope of receiving a license. The Wildlife Trusts have locations in Devon and Cornwall, where they hope to publish beavers, and the Knepp Estate in Sussex has four kits that they want to publish.