Erin McDaid of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust — Hopes to overcome disconnect with nature
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was once widespread across the UK and as ‘nature’s engineers’ played a crucial role in shaping our wetland landscapes from prehistoric times through until it was hunted to extinction in the 16th Century.
The demise of this wonderfully-charismatic species in turn precipitated and accelerated the loss of the varied mosaic of meres, mires, lakes, tarns and boggy areas that they are so brilliantly designed and built to create.
While many of our larger native mammals, such as wolves, wild boar and beavers, were harried and hunted out of existence, others have disappeared due to a combination of factors, from persecution and disturbance by humans to habitat degradation and loss.
As a result of these extinctions and continued declines of many remaining species, the UK is now verifiably one of the most nature-depleted places on the planet.
Our much-celebrated ‘green and pleasant land’ might well be many shades of green and relatively pleasant on the eye in many places; but too many areas are shockingly devoid of biodiversity — including some of our most-treasured and protected landscapes.
Common creatures, such as water voles and hedgehogs, now face an uncertain future and many species of bird and butterfly are in drastic and potentially-terminal decline.
This loss of species over centuries, alongside the intensification of how we manage much of our landscape, and direct impact of development and construction means we have, to a large extent, lost our connection with nature too.
This depletion and disconnect means that, for many, the default solution to issues relating to impact on wildlife populations is to look for ways to control or cull other species — effectively deflecting blame.
For decades I’ve sought to explain that the answer to restoring our declining songbird populations isn’t simply the persecution of natural predators like magpies and birds of prey; and I still struggle to comprehend the almost hysterical reaction from some quarters to the rightful return of otters to our rivers.
The answer to resolving the conflicts that undoubtedly do exist between species in our shrinking natural areas is more and better-connected habitat.
Feverish concerns that otters or cormorants eat fish or that birds of prey — the clue is in the name — kill song birds underline the level of disconnect.
The distance of time from creatures such as beavers means that there are misunderstandings here too.
When we first announced plans to bring beavers back, negative impact on fish populations was raised by some, despite beavers being vegetarian.
Others cited that in building lodges and dams, the beavers would be felling trees at a time when trees are being promoted as the answer to our climate woes — not appreciating that the majority of the trees grow back quickly or that the varied habitat they create is a massive boost for a host other species.
We increasingly face similar criticism when felling trees as part of the management of ancient woodland and increasingly find ourselves explaining that pretty much all UK tree species grow back vigorously when cut.
Traditional coppice management can massively extend the lifespan of a tree as well as creating the habitat variety that our butterflies, birds and other creatures so acutely under threat require.
The continuous cycle of cutting and regrowth, is effectively a closed carbon loop, resulting in little if any long-term negative impact on climate change.
Our familiarity with the heavily-managed landscape makes us conditioned to having our countryside clipped, mowed, ploughed.
Any return to nature can seem threatening to some but surely we can make space for nature or live alongside other creatures without a default urge to control or cull species that have a rightful place in our landscape.
If not, we must question our willingness to set in train the scale of habitat restoration and connection needed to prevent catastrophic loss of species and mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.
But there is hope.
This hope was visible in the excited faces of our staff, volunteers and supporters present as the beavers were brought back to our county earlier this month. This hope is embodied in the teams from the many organisations that worked so hard to make it happen and in the people that put their hands in their pockets to help.
The return of beavers to Nottinghamshire and other counties after many centuries highlights that we can make space for nature and embrace its power to shape our landscape once again.