Cropton Forest beaver project by Forestry England proving successful

The Cropton Forest beaver project, which saw two beavers released on enclosed land upstream of Sinnington in April 2019, has been credited with helping to reduce the flood risk for the village and for transforming the ecology of the area for the good.

The five year project, which is overseen by Forestry England, hopes to examine the impact of re-introducing beavers to the wild in England after they were hunted to extinction in the sixteenth century. It's one of a number of pilots across the UK which have support from a number of organisations including the RSPB.

At the centre of the North Yorkshire beavers' habitat is an enormous 70m long dam that the original beavers have built over the years alongside the kits that they've had since being re-introduced to the area four years ago.

Ecologist Cath Bashforth, who leads the project, said that the pilot has "far exceeded what we expected.

The view of the enormous beaver dam in Cropton Forest from above. (Image: Forestry England)

"We never expected such a dramatic impact in such a short space of time."

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In terms of the dramatic impact, the slowing of water flow through the site helps protect downstream areas from flooding, however the beavers' presence has a knock on effect in many areas surrounding their habitat.

"At the start of the trial we had some fantastic volunteers who helped us take a baseline biodiversity survey to examine what impact the beavers would have," says Cath.

"Bat activity has increased significantly around the area where the beavers' main engineering activity has been. This is because the increased water behind the dam has led to an increase in insects for the bats to feed on.

"They're a key indicator species," she adds, "meaning that an abundance of bats in any given habitat is a sign of how healthy it is."

Cath also talks of explosions in other species in the project enclosure, with only six clumps of frog or toad spawn found during the baseline survey exploding to levels that are now "uncountable" each spawning season.

This leads to more birds who eat the amphibians, with Cath recounting the tale of a heron who stood in the same spot for three hours eating frog after frog, "I was surprised it could take off," she laughs.

The impact of beavers isn't only felt in the abundance of wildlife, with the rodents managing trees in the forest an increase in sunlight has lead to a wider variety of plant species within their enclosure than was present four years ago.

Last year a landmark decision was made when the government classed Eurasian beavers as a native species, giving them protected species status, but not permitting them to be released into the wild.

Having built their enormous dam along with five or six smaller ones Cath is optimistic that the beavers will be able to stay in North Yorkshire on conclusion of the pilot scheme.

As the project looks to reach its conclusion in a little over a year, the fate of the beavers presently on site remains undecided.