Call for interest in beaver release to new catchments - NatureScot

Organisations, communities and land managers with an interest in hosting beavers are being encouraged to come forward as the population continues to expand across Scotland.

NatureScot is inviting expressions of interest for the wild release of beavers to new catchments.

The aim is to get a better picture of where there is interest in beaver restoration, with a view to bringing interested organisations and individuals together to develop broad strategic plans for beavers at a catchment scale.

Scotland’s Beaver Strategy aims to increase the current range of beavers in Scotland, restoring them to suitable parts of the country, with appropriate management and mitigation where necessary.

Currently there are six catchments to which beavers have either been officially granted permission to remain or have been released. Populations are already established in Tayside, on the Forth, in Knapdale, Loch Lomond and the Cairngorms National Park. Two releases have also recently been approved in the Beauly catchment.

Dr Jenny Bryce, NatureScot’s beaver team manager, said: “Beavers are ecosystem engineers, creating habitats such as ponds and wetlands where other species thrive, as well as moderating water flows and improving water quality. In doing so, they play an important role in helping to restore biodiversity and respond to the climate emergency in Scotland. With other members of the Scottish Beaver Advisory Group, we’ve been looking at how we can identify further new catchments for beaver releases. Getting a clearer picture of where there is most interest will help us make the best use of resources and plan any future releases strategically. It doesn’t need to be a fully formed project, but we would expect there to be suitable habitat and some knowledge of landowner support for potential release sites. By gathering information on areas of interest, we can help steer focused discussion of the locations with the most potential for successful conservation translocations.”