Beaver Reintroduction
We are considering reintroducing beavers to Ennerdale, find out more below.
(Beaver Image © Wild Intrigue)
Our Vision
Led by the Wild Ennerdale vision to restore missing natural processes, we are considering reintroducing beavers. The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is a well-studied species capable of increasing biodiversity and contributing to flood and drought resilience and water quality improvements through its natural activities.
Our vision is to see free living beavers reintroduced to the length of the River Ehen, from mountains to sea.
Our Original Proposal
As a first step, we proposed to host some beaver family groups in the (partially enclosed) upper valley, east of Ennerdale Water. We hoped this would start a 3 to 5-year public engagement period during which we would engage with local landowners and communities to share and build up knowledge and experience with beavers living in the landscape. At the end of this period, we would have held a formal consultation to see if the local community supported the vision for beavers to have access to the full length of the River Ehen. As a partnership we wanted to see beavers having full freedom to explore unhindered and were not proposing a permanent enclosed release.
We commissioned an independent expert-led ecology feasibility study, which was completed in 2020. It reported that the valley would be suitable for a multi-family beaver release.
A demonstration beaver barrier was installed on part of the Irish Bridge across the River Liza just east of the lake. Examples of beaver enclosure fencing were installed nearby.
Useful Links
Our original proposal
Ennerdale beaver reintroduction map
Ennerdale beaver ecology feasibility study
Beaver dam capacity and habitat suitability in Cumbria
Links to beavers in Cumbria
BBC beaver article including beavers at Lowther Estate
Links to beavers in England
Beaver Advisory Committee for England
River Otter beaver trial report
Places to see beavers in the UK
National Trust Holnicote beaver enclosure tour
Beaver research and information
More links to research and information about the impacts and behaviour of beavers
Beaver Public Engagement
Our engagement process began in 2019 when we spoke with those living and working in the valley. Over Winter and Spring 2021-2022 the Wild Ennerdale partners supported by Heather Devey from Wild Intrigue have held 4 online Zoom presentations, 4 in person drop in events in Ennerdale Bridge, Cleator, Egremont and Whitehaven, 2 in valley visits and presented the proposals to 3 local societies/groups. Additionally, partner representatives attended a public meeting of the Ennerdale and Kinniside Parish Council.
Across these events we have presented our proposals to over 300 people. In addition, our social media beaver posts had a reach of over 30,000 which prompted 1,400 engagements and over 1,000 views of our beaver presentation and introduction.
To continue to explore plans for beaver re-introduction in Ennerdale, Forestry England appointed a species reintroduction project officer in January 2023, whose remit will focus on the potential for beaver and other species across Forestry England landholdings in Ennerdale and the wider Lake District.
Engagement Outcomes
We have been processing the feedback we have received so far and identified a major obstacle to our plans for a partially-enclosed beaver release.
The proposed barrier across the River Liza would need a 100mm bar spacing to securely keep beavers in. Bar spacing would need to be twice this width to avoid deterring salmon and trout which migrate to spawning grounds in the tributaries of the River Liza. The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act prohibits any activities that may impact fish movements. While we are disappointed with this set-back, we acknowledge that restricting other natural processes, to bring beavers into the valley, would be contrary to the ethos of Wild Ennerdale. For now, we are unable to proceed with the development of a licence application for the release of beavers into a partial enclosure.
Free-living beavers have always been the long-term ambition for our beaver project and a release directly into the wild may be an alternative option for Ennerdale. The government is currently considering its approach to wild releases in England and we await clarity on this. This option has additional complexities. It requires further feasibility work to consider the wider implications of free-living beavers. This will help inform whether we apply to release free-living beavers if this option becomes available. There will be opportunities for feedback and discussion, with an emphasis on impacts for local landowners.
Contacts
If you have any comments or concerns about this change in direction, please contact Hayley Dauben, Species Reintroduction Project Officer at hayley.dauben@forestryengland.uk or 07425 732513.
More about our Proposal
For nature: The role of beavers as ecosystem engineers is well documented. Although Wild Ennerdale has been operating for nearly 20 years, the riparian and valley bottom habitats have potential for significant further restoration. Like our free-roaming cattle, beavers would bring disturbance which stimulates new and uneven opportunities for growth and regeneration. We expect beavers to bring significant increased species diversity and abundance through their dynamic wetland creation and changes to the structure of vegetation around them.
More open water, pond and wetland habitats - It is hoped that beaver dams may further complement the natural formation of rich marshy grassland, wet woodland and mire habitats by adopting these existing habitats and/or creating new habitats along the tributaries and drains which flow across the low-gradient fields and floodplains.
More standing and fallen deadwood habitat - It is hoped that beaver dams will flood some existing stands of trees creating more standing deadwood. Beavers may ringbark a tree, but not fell it entirely, creating further standing deadwood. Beaver-felled trees are an additional source of fallen deadwood.
Tree felling - It is hoped that tree-felling by beavers for food and building materials may open up gaps in the canopy which favour regenerating broadleaf trees and reduce the dominance of spruce in the valley bottom. Beaver felling is intermittent. It is hoped that over time a diverse age structure of regenerating trees will develop.
Beaver feeding and foraging - Species like hazel, willow and aspen respond favourably to felling or browsing by beavers. Loose cuttings and food caches in the watercourse facilitate dispersal and establishment of riparian vegetation. It is hoped that disturbance from beaver foraging will along riverbanks will encourage a diversity of healthy riparian vegetation and habitat.
Digging, canals, burrows, bank slides, foraging trails - Similar to the disturbance from the free-roaming Galloway cattle, these are dynamic areas of disturbance. Any bare earth, abandoned as beavers move to new foraging areas, provides opportunities for recolonisation by plant species. It is hoped that this will contribute to a diverse age and species structure in wetland vegetation.
For people: The beavers would be introduced into an open access landscape, with people recreating daily along multiple rights of way and waymarked trails. People are likely, in time, to see beavers and their impacts in a free roaming way.
A beaver’s ability to slow the flow of water in storm events will be a demonstrator for flood risk communities in Cumbria as to how this natural architect can contribute to flood mitigation measures.
Wild Ennerdale has a well-established approach to including volunteering into its natural process led management. Monitoring beaver activities would provide a new opportunity to include local people in the being part of the valley’s evolving story.
For the economy: In our original proposal, we suggested that economic and employment benefits could come from increased visitors and infrastructure. Ideas for ecotourism opportunities based at YHA Ennerdale and Low Gillerthwaite Field Centre, bespoke luxury accommodation outside of the valley, guided wildlife watching experiences led by additional staff or contractors, viewing hides and self-led guides were a cause of some concern.
While ecotourism can be a boost to the whole community, none of these elements are critical to beaver reintroduction in Ennerdale, which can be low key and development-free, to maintain and protect the valley’s special sense of wildness and tranquillity.
Beavers provide ecosystem services, contributing to water quality improvements, flood and drought resilience which, although difficult to quantify, are increasingly recognised as being of economic value.
In our original proposal, the ecology feasibility study identified three suitable sites for the release of beaver families and suggested that a pair of young beavers could also be released at the same time.
The recommended sites were at: Moss Dub, Gillerthwaite Mire and a site west of the Middle Bridge, see Ennerdale Beaver Reintroduction Map. The latter two would need a small amount of work to create some standing water for the beavers to settle into immediately after their release.
The young pair could be released higher up the valley away from the family release sites.
The release locations for free-living beavers may change depending on the results of a free-living beaver feasibility study.
In our original proposal, we considered reintroducing three beaver family groups. Each family group would comprise of a male and female adult along with their dependant young, so group size can vary from two to six animals. In addition, we hoped to release a young pair of male and female two-year-old beavers.
The number of free-living beavers released may change depending on the results of a free-living beaver feasibility study.
There is no certainty that beavers will be reintroduced to the River Liza and River Ehen catchments. There is no timeframe for a reintroduction.
The beavers would come from existing populations in the UK. Most likely they would come from free-living populations in Scotland. At the age of two, young beavers usually leave their families to find themselves a mate and their own territory, so some beavers may come from beaver enclosures in England.
During the daytime, it is unlikely that anyone would see beavers, but signs of their activity, like damming and foraging, should be distinctive. Some beaver activities may not be close to existing tracks and roads which may make them more difficult to see. As beavers are most active at dusk and dawn, early morning and late evening visitors are most likely to catch a glimpse of a beaver. Public access to the area where the beavers are proposed to be released would continue.
To investigate how beavers may affect the historic sites, we have carried out a mapping exercise comparing the location of all the archaeology features with a 50m buffer around all the watercourses to indicate the impact that beavers may have. This map shows that all of the features (apart from the River Liza cairns) are above or far enough away from the where beavers might have an impact. This is not surprising if you think that the people who built these features may well have lived alongside a valley bottom shaped by beavers in the past. An archaeology management plan is in place and this will continue should beavers be present.
In addition to the mapping work, we would continue to monitor the beavers activity and step in where necessary to protect any features from damage using flow devices to control the height of beaver dams and fencing to keep beavers out.
For more information on management of historic features please visit our Managing Archelogy web page.
No, access to the forest and valley is free. Bowness Knott car park has parking charges see https://www.forestryengland.uk/ennerdale
As the majority of the land around where the beavers would be introduced is managed by Forestry England it is most likely the the Licence applicant will be Forestry England.
There is no need to build any additional infrastructure in the valley to support free-living beavers.
Our current buildings in the valley operate on commercial or farm leases or are used for day-to-day operations. They are not needed for the beaver reintroduction project.
There would be no additional fences in the valley or structures in the River Liza to restrict the movement of free-living beavers.
It is common to build temporary lodges made of branches for beavers to use when they are first released. Sometimes beavers adopt these lodges. Sometimes they are ignored and will decompose back into the environment.
Some trees may be identified for protection from felling by beavers. Wire mesh around the base of the trunk or a sandy paint is used as a deterrent.
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Beavers are brilliant architects
As aquatic mammals, beavers have evolved to be entirely dependent on water, so their anatomy is perfectly suited to build and maintain wetland habitats.
Chisel like teeth are used to coppice trees, which as well as providing food, provide essential building materials for constructing their dams. Non-webbed forefeet act as dextrous hands, which are used for carrying building materials across land and water, and for digging new connective channels between pools.
Where beavers do not have an existing deep water body, they create their own by damming streams and pooling water to a depth of around 1 meter, often in a dynamic network. These valuable habitats bring huge benefits to a wide range of plants and wildlife. As well as benefiting wildlife, these large, beaver wetlands benefit humans by slowing the flow of water downstream, holding more water back in landscape, and providing a natural filtration service.
Hear what other people have to say about living alongside beavers in the Beaver Trust’s excellent "Beavers without Borders" film.
More about beavers
The Eurasian beaver is Britain’s largest rodent, belonging to the same group as mice and voles. With a flat, paddle-like tail and webbed hindfeet these impressive aquatic mammals are suited to life both on land and in the water. Described as ‘ecosystem engineers’, beavers build dams to create access to deep pools of water, and diversify surrounding vegetation by coppicing deciduous trees for winter food and for building supplies. Beavers are very family-orientated usually living in family groups of six to twelve individuals comprised of an adult pair, kits and yearlings. Living a nocturnal lifestyle, beavers sleep in lodges or burrows throughout the day, and are active between sunrise and sunset.
A mature adult beaver typically grows to a length of 70-100 cm, with a tail length of 30cm – 40cm, and weight between 18-30 kg. Beavers have an average lifespan of 10 to 15 years.
Beavers are herbivores, so follow a completely vegetarian diet. Throughout spring and summer, beavers will eat a variety of herbaceous terrestrial and aquatic plants, flowers and grasses, and even create ‘beaver lawns’ where grass has been neatly grazed. Throughout autumn and winter, they switch to a more woody diet, which leads to increased tree coppicing activity. Through winter, forward-thinking beavers will create a winter larder in their pools, caching small tree branches which they can rely upon if food resources decrease. Contrary to common belief, beavers do not eat fish.
Beavers can carry host-specific parasites not currently present in Britain, though these are not known to infect or harm other species of wildlife, livestock or humans. Other parasites carried by beavers are already present in British wildlife, livestock and humans and these other sources of infection pose a more significant risk to water contamination than beavers. If beavers are released into Ennerdale they will be quarantined and health screened by a specialist vet to ensure they are not infected with any disease.
Yes, there are established populations of beavers in the east and west of Scotland, as well as enclosed trial releases small free-roaming colonies in England.
Beavers were reintroduced to Knapdale, West Scotland, in 2009 through the Scottish Beaver Trial, coordinated by Scottish Wildlife Trust, RZSS and Forestry and Land Scotland. Prior to this, in 2000, an unofficial release of beavers onto the Tay catchment , in East Scotland, was undertaken – and which has now established a strong population of free-living beavers
As of May 2019, the Eurasian beaver became designated as a protected species in Scotland.
In England the largest free roaming population is on the River Otter in Devon. Following a five-year trial period, this population was recently permitted by the UK Government to continue. There are also a number of fenced projects across the country, including in Cornwall, Yorkshire and Essex amongst others. At present, a licence is required for any beaver reintroduction project.
In Cumbria, a pair of beavers were released into an enclosure on the Lowther Estate near Penrith in summer 2020, following the approval of a licence in January 2020. For more information on this project, visit www.cumbriabeavers.org.uk .
If supported and approved, the release of beavers in Ennerdale would be the largest reintroduction in England to date. The scale of the landscape and interactions with faming, forestry, freedom of public access and tourism make Ennerdale a unique upland site.
Beavers can modify the habitats and landscapes they live in through coppicing, feeding and in some cases damming (beavers living on lakes or large rivers have little need of constructing dams). Initially, these changes can markedly alter the appearance of the local environment but all of these modifications have an overall positive effect on biodiversity.
Beaver adaptations can bring enormous benefits to other species, including otters, water shrews, water voles, birds, invertebrates such as dragonflies, and breeding fish. Beavers naturally create and maintain diverse wetland habitats. Their dams can retain water in periods of drought, can regulate flooding and improve water quality by holding silt behind dams and catching acidic and agricultural run-off.
Beavers forage close to water with activity usually concentrated within 20m of the water’s edge. Trees coppiced by beavers often regenerate as shrubs, which helps diversify the surrounding habitat structure. Coppicing has been practiced by foresters throughout history as a method to manage bankside trees, so the woodlands of Ennerdale would be naturally maintained by the chisel-like teeth of beavers.
There are instances when beavers may require the need for intervention by humans, if their activities result in undesirable localised flooding or tree felling. These can be overcome by applying tried and tested methods of mitigation used across Scotland, Europe, North America such as flow devices to control the height of pooled water behind dams, and tree guards or grit paint to protect special trees.
Impacts from burrowing, ie. collapsed banks are unlikely to be an issue at Ennerdale due to the stony nature of the ground limiting this activity.
In general terms, beavers are well-studied as contributing to reducing the risk of flooding lower down in river systems by building dams and moderating water flow. The modifications made by beavers to streams can raise the water table locally, creating wetland areas to the benefit of biodiversity. Evidence from the River Otter beaver trial in Devon, and from beavers in the River Tay in Scotland, show that instances of beaver dams creating undesirable flooding are uncommon, localised and usually small-scale. In these situations dams are simply removed or pipes (‘beaver deceivers’) are placed through them to manage water levels.
Evidence from Europe and the River Otter trial in Devon shows that beaver damage is, in the vast majority of cases, small-scale and localised. Where localised problems occur, there are a number of well-established methods in place. These include the removal of dams, the introduction of overflow piping, or the installation of fencing (as one does for deer and rabbits). Beavers have been known to forage certain crops if located directly beside a waterbody.
Beavers , by their nature , leave little evidence of the presence behind them. Their dams and pond systems will not , in most cases, be visible many decades later. Being water based creatures their dead bodies would have mostly decompose in the water environment. Often archaeological evidence of past habitats, creatures and human activities is found during pre construction archaeological investigation. However construction mostly occurs on dry land not in wetland or habitats dominated by water so the remains of beaver are less likely to be found.
One very recent finding was during the excavation at Stainton West as part of the Carlisle Western Bypass planning works. The report says "The excavated site covered 0.6ha, within the footprint of the road, but seems to extend outside this, towards both the north and the south. It comprised a series of palaeochannels, with a dense in situ scatter of struck lithic material (c 300,000 pieces) occurring on an island between two of these. Finds of worked wood and stone within the channels, associated with well-preserved palaeoenvironmental assemblages, indicate various phases of human activity. The earliest of these, dating to the 6th millennium cal BC, probably represents the opportunistic reuse of beaver-made structures by people."
Whilst not Cumbria another North of England recent find is in Northumberland. "A wood specimen with beaver gnaw marks was recovered from the bank of the Scaup Burn in Kielder Forest in Northumberland. The marks were analysed, the tree species were identified and the sample was radiocarbon dated to between 1269 and 1396. Other wood remains in the same context suggest a most likely dating between 1330 and 1390. This find represents the most recent radiocarbon-dated physical evidence of beaver yet found in Britain, by at least 400 years. In conjunction with documentary and other archaeological evidence from the period, this discovery indicates beaver were present within the Tyne River catchment up until at least the 14th century ad. In addition, this find highlights the need to investigate all possible evidence of beaver fully when discovered and to remain open-minded about the possibility of making finds in unexpected locations and contexts. " Its difficult to think of a reason why beavers would not be in Cumbria when they were in Northumberland.
As is often said in crime investigations "lack of evidence is not proof of absence". Take the Pine Marten, we have no physical evidence that Pine Marten were ever in Ennerdale. However an area of Crags to the east of Side Wood is named Mart Knott suggesting they were inhabited by Pine Martens at one time in the past.