Beavers are being reintroduced to Britain to help mitigate climate change impacts like flooding and drought. Conservationists are using them to restore wetlands, create natural flood defenses, and boost biodiversity, though conflicts with farmers are also arising.
A wild beaver population, potentially illegally released, has been confirmed in Cumbria's River Lowther, marking the county's first such sighting, with Natural England protecting them under wildlife regulations.
Leicestershire county council, led by Reform UK, has voted to release wild beavers into the countryside to help reduce flooding, despite the party's opposition to rewilding. The Labour government recently legalised beaver releases in England, about 400 years after the animals were hunted to extinction. Reform councillor Adam Tilbury said beavers are 'great natural engineers' who could form part of the solution to flooding. The move comes amid internal party divisions over nature policy, with leader Nigel Farage having consulted controversial figure Ben Goldsmith on environmental proposals.
