Current legislation means that beavers can only be released in England into large enclosures under licence from the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra). As well as a wild colony living along the River Otter in Devon – believed to originate from escapees from a private collection – closely monitored beaver pairs are living in trial enclosures in North Yorkshire, Cornwall, Essex, Devon, Somerset and Gloucestershire. This year, beaver pairs will be returned to Cumbria, Norfolk and Dorset – and two sites in West Sussex. One is in Valewood, on the National Trust’s Black Down estate, and the other at the Knepp Estate near Horsham.
The Sussex Beaver Trial is a partnership led by Sussex Wildlife Trust and the rewilding project at Knepp. Landowners Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell have long been advocates of the potential for beavers to mitigate flooding and promote biodiversity. “We wanted wild boar, bison and beavers,” says Isabella, remembering the letter of intent they sent to the government in 2001, when they first planned to create a wilderness area on their land. Charlie felt so strongly about the importance of beavers’ role in restoring natural landscapes that he founded the Beaver Advisory Committee of England with the aim of fostering conversation between landowners and organisations such as the NFU, Environment Agency and Natural England. This work has now been taken on by the newly formed Beaver Trust.
この記事は Sussex Life の April 2020 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は Sussex Life の April 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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