Plan to bring back beavers after county successes

ANIMALS WERE RE-INTRODUCED IN SOUTH OF COUNTY IN 2021 AFTER 800-YEAR ABSENCE

- By EDDIE BISKNELL Local democracy reporter

A DERBYSHIRE council is pursuing plans to reintroduce beavers, following success elsewhere in the county, in a bid to boost biodiversity.

Erewash Borough Council has revealed the plans as part of its new draft biodiversity strategy.

The strategy aims to pursue a “feasibility study and exploration with partners to potentially reintroduce the Eurasian beaver into the Erewash Valley”

This follows the successful reintroduction by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust of a breeding pair of beavers at the Willington Wetlands nature reserve in September 2021, bringing the species back to Derbyshire after 800 years.

There are four adult beavers at Willington and one breeding pair have had two babies - kits - a year since 2022.

The wildlife trust describes beavers as a keystone species which play a crucial role as “ecosystem engineers”