Archie Ruggles-Brise, manager of Spains Hall Estate in Essex, introduces the innovative natural flood management project which uses man-made and beaver dams to reduce flood risk. Filmed by Russell Savory
How awesome! We Canadians have seen Beavers on our coins for generations but I never knew their true value. It's nice they're making a comeback. i've seen a couple in Lake Ontario recently. Here's to more Beavers and fewer fur coats, hats and politicians.
What an amazing project - congratulations for persevering and having the bravery to make it happen. Out of interest, what are you doing to ensure genetic diversity? I would imagine this is a concern given the lack of other beavers locally.
Thank you! Our beavers are within a fenced area so we will work with our partner ecologists to identify the right time to translocate, if necessary! They are in a happy family group at the moment.
Are you sure you know what will happen in ten years? Hope you have European beavers! Canadian beavers are different, in many cases in northern Ontario they create large lakes.
We will be translocating older offspring in the next few years. Also, we now have 2 more (much larger) enclosures with 2 additional family groups on the estate.
Being from North America, it is incredibly depressing to see the state of wildlife and intact ecosystems in Europe. Using Google Earth looking over any such country, it appears as a puzzle - large swaths of squares (farms) seemingly scattered across entire countries, while forested areas that appear intact, are designated nature preserves with access limitations/bylaws, as well so limited and entirely solved in-terms of discovery and exploration. So depressing.
Trust me there are just as many problems in Europe. Our wolf and bear populations are all but extinct at this point, which means instead of natural predators curbing larger herbivore populations you have to get hunters to do it instead 🙁
