Reintroducing the Eurasian beaver <i>Castor fiber</i> to Scotland

Gaywood, Martin J.

doi:10.1111/mam.12113

Cited by 43 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Reintroduction considerations include environmental impacts of the beavers’ role as “ecosystem engineers” (organisms which cause physical environmental changes that influence ecological community structures), including tree‐felling and dam‐building. Beaver behaviours may provide multiple ecosystem services, defined as benefits humans obtain from ecosystems (Gaywood, ; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, ). In particular, beavers may provide a role in natural flood management by attenuating water flows in high rainfall events (Puttock et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beaver reintroduction is at various stages across GB, with devolved decision‐making responsibility. In Scotland, following a licensed trial in Mid‐Argyll and assessment of a population of beavers in Tayside which established following an unlicensed release/escape (Scottish Natural Heritage, ), the Scottish Government announced that beavers are to be allowed to remain and that they will be listed as a European Protected Species (Gaywood, ; Scottish Government, ). In England, a population of unknown origin has been licensed for a reintroduction trial in Devon (Natural England, ) alongside a number of fenced projects, and the UK government has included reference to “providing opportunities for reintroduction of species such as beavers” in its 25‐year environmental plan (for England) (HM Government, , p. 57).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unravelling perceptions of Eurasian beaver reintroduction in Great Britain

Auster

Puttock

Brazier

2019

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International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines state that anticipated impacts must be considered in wildlife reintroduction, including the impacts on humans. Further, since reintroduction projects can be halted by resulting human-wildlife conflicts or human-human conflicts about wildlife, the perceptions of stakeholders and publics are of great importance. Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) reintroduction is being debated in Great Britain at a devolved level. A decision has already been taken in Scotland to allow beavers already present to remain, while a number of reintroduction trials are taking place in England (both fenced and unfenced). There are also proposals for a reintroduction trial in Wales.We use a sub-set of results from a nationwide survey (n = 2,759) to identify four social areas that we propose decision-makers should consider in the debate: key stakeholder perceptions; engagement methods; attitudes towards legal protection and management responsibilities; and support for management techniques. In this paper, we investigate the complex social dimensions of wildlife reintroduction and we argue that emphasis should be placed on the need to recognise societal perceptions of potential management solutions, beyond perceptions of reintroduction itself. This is paramount in order to develop a management strategy that is more likely to garner social support and reduce potential future conflicts, should beaver reintroduction proceed. K E Y W O R D SEurasian beaver, Great Britain, human-wildlife conflict, perceptions, reintroduction, survey

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling perceptions of Eurasian beaver reintroduction in Great Britain

Auster

Puttock

Brazier

2019

Area

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“…Moreover, people have forgotten that beavers were a natural ecosystem component (Manning, Gordon, & Ripple, 2009) and so species that have been absent for hundreds of years may now be considered as invaders or intruders (Jørgensen, 2013) despite being originally native. Mindful of this situation, SNH proceeded by first assessing the feasibility (technical and practical considerations) and desirability (moral and social acceptability) of such a programme (Gaywood, 2018 (Gaywood, 2018). In the spring of 2019, beavers were officially granted protected status in Scotland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, opposition arises from the fear of the socio-economic impacts that beaver activity may have on agricultural or forested land by destroying vegetation or causing flooding (TBSG, 2015). There is also fear that beavers dams may hinder fish movements (Gaywood, 2018) and that the species may therefore have impacts on inland salmon Salmo salar and trout Salmo trutta fisheries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While social sciences and humanities research increasingly address the social and human dimensions of conservation conflicts (e.g. Lorimer et al, 2015;Redpath et al, 2013), these aspects are yet to be fully understood both in the case of species reintroductions in general (Butler, Young, & Marzano, 2019), and in the case of beaver reintroduction (Gamborg & Sandøe, 2004;Gaywood, 2018). Much of the literature produced by SNH emphasised the immediate technical, material and economic issues at stake, and tried to weigh these costs against any potential environmental benefits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conflicts over wildlife conservation: Learning from the reintroduction of beavers in Scotland

Coz

Young

2020

People and Nature

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1. Species reintroductions have become a common conservation tool, but they can be controversial and may generate social conflicts.2. We examine the social dimension of beaver reintroduction in Scotland to understand the issue, the potential for, and impact of, conflict between groups or individuals with differing views on beavers and reintroductions.3. Using a literature review and semi-structured interviews, we studied planned and unplanned beaver reintroductions to three contrasting landscapes in Scotland: in Knapdale, the reintroduction was planned and science-led, whereas in Tayside and the Highlands, the reintroductions were accidental and/or illegal. Our results highlight the context dependency and complexity of reintroductions.Nationally, the reintroduction of beavers has not become a conflict. At the local scale, we found the Tayside situation to be a conflict with major consequences on the debate at the national scale. While there were no conflicts in the Highlands and Knapdale, the reintroduction remains controversial.5. The level of conflict depended on the reintroduction process, relationships between stakeholders and their perspectives on their role in nature, their perceptions of landscapes, and the potential issue of lack of control and uncertainty around reintroductions.6. Based on these findings, the study outlines lessons learned in terms of management, guidelines and implications for future species reintroductions. We argue that to prevent future conflicts over reintroductions, processes must go beyond addressing the effects of reintroduced species on the environment and people's perceptions and acceptance of these species. Reintroduction processes require engagement in effective discussions which involve all actual and potential stakeholders to agree on broad and long-term conservation plans at the landscape scale. K E Y W O R D S beavers, Castor fiber, conservation conflicts, perceptions, rewilding, Scotland, species reintroductions | 407 People and Nature COZ and YOUnG S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section.

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Context matters when rewilding for climate change

Burak,

Ferraro,

Orrick

et al. 2024

People and Nature

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There is a cross‐sectoral push among conservationists to simultaneously mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change, especially as the latter increasingly threatens the former. Growing evidence demonstrates that animals can have substantial impacts on carbon cycling. As such, there are increasing calls to use animal conservation and rewilding to dually overcome biodiversity loss and mitigate climate change. Specifically, trophic rewilding—which involves restoring intact animal communities, functional roles and trophic structure within food webs, and natural ecosystem processes—utilizes a rewilding framework to simultaneously support biodiversity conservation and carbon capture and storage. Trophic rewilding is a complex conservation approach to mitigating climate change, involving accurate estimations of baseline conditions and continuous monitoring of carbon cycling and species impacts within a system. It is also predicated on garnering social support for both the reintroduction and monitoring of a species, and obtaining the animals themselves. We are excited by the growing interest in this potential, but emphasize that a species' net impact on ecosystem carbon dynamics is context‐dependent. Caution is required whenever biodiversity conservation (including rewilding), climate change mitigation, and human welfare do not readily align. Hence—similar to other nature‐based solutions—these burgeoning efforts must avoid sweeping generalizations. To bolster successful trophic rewilding, we highlight a range of social and ecological context dependencies that can vary outcomes in a rewilded carbon cycle and provide ethical considerations for successful implementation. We conclude with an overview of the available technology to predict and monitor progress toward both biodiversity and climate mitigation goals. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Reintroducing the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber to Scotland

Cited by 43 publications

References 28 publications

Unravelling perceptions of Eurasian beaver reintroduction in Great Britain

Unravelling perceptions of Eurasian beaver reintroduction in Great Britain

Conflicts over wildlife conservation: Learning from the reintroduction of beavers in Scotland

Context matters when rewilding for climate change

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