Beaver Eating at Ham Fen by Terry Whittaker
Beavering away
A little about beavers
Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) are medium-sized mammals that are semi-aquatic like otters. They mostly live in water, but forage in water and on land. They are vegetarians and eat over 300 species of plants, including lots of invasive species introduced to Britain.
Beavers are known as 'ecosystem engineers' or a 'nature-based solution' because they create and affect the habitats they live in, benefitting other wildlife and people.
For example, when beavers build dams, this slows and cleans the water. This means that, during periods of heavy rain, less water flows downstream, reducing flooding and creating wet woodlands and ponds. These new habitats also act as carbon sinks helping to slow climate change. Beaver also create new habitats that benefit other species, like invertebrates, and bats, as well as endangered species such as water vole.
From 1st October 2022, the European beaver finally became a protected species in England, following Scotland’s lead. This means that beavers have species-level protection, and requires a license to possess, and disturb and manage beavers and their lodges, burrows and dams.
Beaver swimming with its head just above the water © Russell Savory
The History of Beavers at Ham Fen
At the tail end of the last century, Kent Wildlife Trust recognised the importance of beavers as natural engineers to help restore wetlands. The Trust developed a plan to establish a contained colony of beavers at Ham Fen Nature Reserve to demonstrate how they could be effectively used to naturally manage and enhance a wetland reserve.
In 2000, work began on gaining legal consents for a project that had never been undertaken before, with an animal that was last seen on British shores over 400 years ago.
After much hard work, in 2001, the point was reached when two families of beavers, a gift from the Norwegian government, were brought over to Kent and went into quarantine with our project partners at the Wildwood Trust. Unfortunately, a last-minute bureaucratic curve ball meant the project was in jeopardy. The Trust battled hard to seek the release of the beavers onto Ham Fen, ultimately meeting with then Minister for DEFRA, Michael Meacher, to plead the beaver’s case. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and the beavers were finally released onto the reserve in 2003.
After an initial stay in “soft release” pens to monitor their welfare and acclimatise them to their new surroundings, the two family groups were released onto separate sections of the reserve. Their activities, including coppicing and felling trees, dam and pool creation demonstrated that they were delivering the positive impacts that the Trust knew they were capable of. In 2008, an additional family group from Germany was released onto the reserve to help continue the project and ensure genetic diversity within Ham Fen’s beaver population.
After nearly 20 years of being on the reserve, the positive impacts of the beaver’s work are clear to see. Water levels are higher, helping to restore areas of peat fen which are so valuable in locking up carbon. The combined rise in water levels coupled with the beaver’s natural coppicing has lead to a diverse mosaic of open areas and scrub that provides the best conditions for fenland wildlife.
Beavers are now part of our wild biodiversity in East Kent. We hope that you are lucky enough to see one of these secretive animals!
Enjoy an early evening walk along a river and listen out for a tail splash on the water then watch out for a passing beaver.
Winter is the best time of year to see beaver, as the vegetation is lower and more chance of spotting them.
Beaver citizen scientist programme
In 2022, Kent Wildlife Trust in collaboration with the Beaver Trust established a beaver citizen scientist programme, providing opportunities for local people from across Kent to learn about beaver ecology and be trained on how to survey for beaver signs.
Citizen scientists are a vital part of long-term monitoring and species conservation. If you wish to become a volunteer at Kent Wildlife Trust and join the growing team of beaver citizen scientists across Kent, book onto a beaver study day to receive training and come join the group.
We are adding dates all the time so keep an eye on our study day page to find our latest events:
Beaver dam at Ham Fen
East Kent Beaver Advisory Group (EKBAG)
EKBAG was established in 2019 and is a collaboration between Kent Wildlife Trust, Environment Agency, Natural England, Wildwood Trust, Internal Drainage Board, Kent Countryside Partnership, National Farming Union and Beaver Trust. This group is neutral and works towards creating harmonious coexistence between beavers and people.
If you want to talk to us about beavers on your land or you wish to report a sighting of a beaver or signs of beavers, please contact us: beavers@wildlifegateway.org.uk.
EKBAG will be running events and workshops later this year and in 2023 to engage and support local people to coexistence with beavers, more details will be posted here in due course.
Do beavers eat fish?
Beavers are vegetarian and eat over 300 species of plants.
Are beavers native to Britain?
Yes, they are native and belong in our natural ecosystems, but humans caused their extinction.
What is the difference between a beaver burrow and a beaver lodge?
Lodges are built out of woody materials and are often found on the side of a river bank. Beavers use them to keep safe; they eat, sleep and look after their family in them.
Burrows are holes and sometimes a network of tunnels with chambers, dug into the river bank. Beavers can also eat, sleep and raise their kits in burrows.
Why do beavers build dams?
Beavers like consistent water levels so they build a dam to help regular water flow and create wetland habitats to keep them safe from predators.
Kits are very vulnerable to predation by a range of species.
Beaver at Loch of the Lowes, Scottish Wildlife Trust (c) Ron Walsh