After an absence of 400 years, our native beavers are returning to the wild, bringing huge benefits for nature. Having written previously on how successive governments have left the reintroduction of beavers in legal limbo, the government has announced its backing for restoring beaver populations in river catchments across the country.

This major milestone for nature recovery all began ten years ago in the River Otter in East Devon, which until today was home to England’s only licensed wild beaver population.

Now, beavers can be moved out of their enclosures, under licence from Natural England, to live freely in our rivers and wetlands. The National Trust is managing the first licensed project for wild release later this year in the Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve in Dorset, as a major step in reversing the decline in nature.

Only 14% of rivers in the UK are in good ecological condition. Beaver dams filter out pollution and sediments, improving water quality and restoring life to our rivers. By revitalising our degraded and nature-depleted rivers, beavers provide a haven for a multitude of species to thrive. The return of this native animal will help us to create wildlife-rich habitats and meet our national biodiversity targets.

As a country we face spending billions of pounds to build infrastructure to combat flooding under climate change, as well as compensating farmers for lost crops caused by more frequent flooding and drought. Beavers can do this for us far more cheaply. The wetland habitats that beavers create slow the flow of water and in dry periods store ten times more water than waterways without beavers, helping river catchments to be more resilient to drought and climate change.

However, reintroducing beavers is a complex process that requires careful planning and collaboration. The licensing approach will prioritise areas where beavers can thrive without significant impacts on people, agriculture and infrastructure. Natural England has already trained 400 people in managing beavers.

Any proposal to remove enclosure fences or new wild release projects must first secure a licence from Natural England which requires a 10-year management plan at the catchment scale, the permission of landowners and the support of local communities.

We will need to make space for beavers by allowing the growth of native trees and shrubs in buffer zones along waterways. Land managers will receive funding under ELMs (Environmental Land Management schemes) for undertaking management actions, such as restoring natural habitats around watercourses, protecting individual trees and managing dams.

Thanks to the work of the Devon Wildlife Trust, Natural England and the University of Exeter who worked together on the River Otter beaver project, we now have a far better understanding of how beavers as native animals fit into our natural ecosystems and benefit local communities.

We can be proud of what we have achieved here in Devon and celebrate the return of beavers as a valued part of English wildlife.