Scotland's beaver population has more than doubled in the last three years – but farmers leaders have praised NatureScot's 'considered approach' to beaver management, which has limited the damage caused to agricultural land.

The latest Scottish population survey identified two key facts – beaver numbers have increased to around 1000, and their geographic spread has rapidly expanded, with territory numbers more than doubling to 251. The species now ranges from Glen Isla to Dundee and Stirling, Forfar to Crianlarich, and is likely to expand into Loch Lomond in the future.

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NatureScot's survey, carried out last winter, is the most comprehensive ever conducted in Britain, and is the first scrutiny of the species since beavers gained European Protected Species in Scotland in 2019. Its results, said NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy, are 'unequivocal evidence' of a conservation and reintroduction success story.

“The survey data vindicates the considered approach to beaver management delivered by NatureScot, working with the Scottish Beaver Forum, and show that a management framework that works in the interests of beavers and wider biodiversity, whilst limiting the damage to valuable agricultural land in particular, has been developed successfully," said Mr Kennedy.

“Farmers must be commended for their participation in this latest NatureScot survey, helping to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information on the species. Farmers also remain committed to playing their part in managing the species with 68 active mitigation projects now in place.

“However, it is vitally important that where mitigation measures are not working, and significant agricultural damage continues to occur, that licenced lethal control remains as a last resort," stressed Mr Kennedy.

“The figures indicate that, while the number of beavers controlled under licence remains relatively stable, beaver numbers and beaver territories over the same period have more than doubled. It is clear that the objective of significant population growth through managed reintroduction is being delivered by NatureScot through the current beaver management framework.”

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The 2020 Beaver Management Report has also been published, outlining the range of practical measures undertaken by NatureScot and land managers last year to reduce the negative impacts of beaver activity, such as burrowing and dam building on agricultural land.

It records 68 active mitigation projects, such as tree protection and installing flow devices in beaver dams, and species control licences for 31 beavers to be trapped and moved to licensed, enclosed reintroduction projects in England. On top of those actions, 56 beaver dams were removed, and 115 beavers were lethally controlled.

Since protected status was granted, lethal control is regulated by licence, which allows impacts to be managed on particularly susceptible and important agricultural land.

NatureScot's director of sustainable growth, Robbie Kernahan, said: “Wildlife is declining in Scotland so this extensive survey, which reveals an increasing beaver population, is great news for nature in Scotland. Beavers play a vital role in creating and restoring wetlands where other species can thrive, reducing downstream flooding and improving water quality.

“Beavers are nature’s supreme water engineers, but we know they may cause severe problems in some areas, particularly for crops on prime agricultural land and for important infrastructure like road drains or railway lines. This is reflected in the number of cases where mitigation measures were needed, such as fencing and flow devices or dam removal, as well as in the number of beavers which had to be trapped and moved or controlled under licence this past year.”

To read the full 2020-21 survey, see www.nature.scot/doc/naturescot-research-report-1274-survey-tayside-area-beaver-population-2020-2021

To read the Beaver Management Report, see www.nature.scot/doc/beaver-management-report-2020