Author: Lucy Purdy / Source: Positive News
Experts believe that dams built by beavers could help prevent flooding and boost biodiversity
Eurasian beavers have returned to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire for the first time in 400 years. Two of the semiaquatic rodents were released on government land in July as part of a three-year trial to see if they can help ease flooding in the area.
Nicknamed ‘nature’s engineers’, beavers are known for felling trees and using the wood to dam rivers. Doing so creates ponds, which the animals use as food stores in winter. It is hoped the rodents’ industrious behaviour will help slow the flow of Greathough Brook, which feeds into the River Wye, at times of torrential rainfall.
“We now have a unique opportunity to study the impacts of beaver dams on the flood flows from this flood-prone landscape,” said Professor Richard Brazier, a hydrologist at the University of…
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