Beavers - a biodiversity boost for Britain

credit: animalsadda.com

Beavers may be the new front line troops in the war against biodiversity loss (well, at least they may be in Scotland). 400 years after their extinction in the UK, the species has been formally recognised as nativein Scotland following a five year trial phase of reintroduction. Beavers have existed in small numbers in Scotland for a while through a mixture of legal and illegal introductions, but their official designation as native creates the opportunity for the species to grow in abundance in the UK, now being allowed to expand its range naturally – a development that has generated excitement amongst proponents of rewilding and reintroduction.

It was probably around this time last year that I first heard of the concept of rewilding and reintroduction of species. In a talk by George Monbiot echoing many of the themes in this article, I learned of the dearth of keystone species in the UK and the importance of these “ecological engineers” in creating a dynamic and diverse ecosystem, as well as their potential to conserve current species at risk. The IUCN has proposed reintroduction as a strategy for conservation since 1987 but it is with increasing knowledge of the importance of ecosystem structures that the idea is gaining traction, whereas before the decision to act on reintroduction was more political than scientific (Sarrazin & Barbault 1996). There is increasing consensus that trophic downgrading, suggested by Estes et al 2011 as the process of removing apex predators from nature, can be linked to reduced herbivore populations, influxes of disease, invasions of non-native species and the collapse of biodiversity.  Such is some of the impetus for conserving the large charismatic fauna that are at risk globally.

So this beaver news could be a positive development for biodiversity, with the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) hailing it as a ‘major success story for conservation’, welcoming their constructive role in creating new wetlands that could provide habitat for many other species and coppicing woodland thereby increasing woodland diversity.

The SWT hopes that this will set a precedent for more species reintroductions. In developed countries where popular opinion is becoming increasingly geared towards the protection of nature rather than its continued exploitation, there may well be further opportunities- personally I’d love to see the lynx return to the UK. With the arguments for reintroduction set out as they are, in a time where our future conservation decisions have a lot riding on them, I think there could well be an argument for strengthening and diversifying the ecosystems we can to potentially mitigate loss through future climate change. The addition of keystone species also creates an incentive for creating protected areas, creating both economic benefits in the form of tourism and environmental benefits through the safeguarding of land from urban encroachment.

Despite this potential, research and action on rewilding and reintroduction seems to focus almost completely on the developed regions of the world such as Europe and North America, with little incentive or possibility for the expansion of species reintroduction into habitats in developing countries. Potentially the cost of such action would be too high to justify, especially where apex predators already frequently clash with the interests of agriculture and urban development. But as an action to improve the biodiversity of the United Kingdom at least, the option is there.