Quantifying ecological impacts and long-term sustainability of The Cheshire Beaver Project

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was lost from mainland Britain due to human activities. Its reintroduction is now gaining momentum, driven by recent high-profile projects demonstrating the role of beavers as beneficial habitat-modifiers. Building on these developments, the Cheshire Beaver Project is conducting a scientifically monitored trial reintroduction, with the aim of utilising beavers for natural process driven habitat management. As a first step, beavers will be released into a fenced area, adjacent to an SSSI with declining water quality and threatened peatland habitats. The beavers are predicted to have multiple ecological benefits, including an increase in biodiversity and reduction in invasive species. Their release offers significant potential both to improve water quality at the reintroduction site, and to enhance the conservation status of the adjacent SSSI. Using ecological surveying techniques, laboratory analysis, and data modelling, this project will investigate four over-arching topics: 1) changes in biodiversity including reductions in invasive species, 2) potential water quality improvements, 3) non-invasive monitoring of beaver behaviour, health and welfare, and 4) modelling the projected long-term success of future beaver releases and of the potential for establishing self-sustaining beaver populations in Cheshire.