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PA<\/p>\nPA<\/p>\n
Beavers disappeared from Britain about 400 years ago after being hunted to extinction<\/p>\n
European beavers are set to become a protected native species under Welsh law, the Welsh government has confirmed.<\/p>\n
The legislative changes bring Wales<\/a> into line with England<\/a> and Scotland<\/a> in recognising beavers as a native species requiring protection.<\/p>\n The move also aims to identify how the rodents can help create natural flood defences and improve river water quality.<\/p>\n Deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies, responsible for rural affairs, said it was a “big step forward” in the face of “climate and nature emergencies” in Wales.<\/p>\n Beavers disappeared from Britain about 400 years ago, after being hunted to extinction for their meat and fur.<\/p>\n But in recent decades, they have re-emerged in fenced enclosures on nature reserves or been found living in rivers through unlicensed releases and escapes.<\/p>\n In January 2023, the Welsh government asked Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to carry out a feasibility study on the reintroduction of beavers, saying they can boost “the health of plants, wildlife and the UK countryside”.<\/p>\n Recent scientific evidence has shown that beaver dams trap sediments and filter pollutants from agricultural runoff, significantly reducing harmful nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways. <\/p>\n This natural water treatment supports the Welsh government’s goals for improved river quality and ecosystem resilience.<\/p>\n There are four managed enclosures that house beavers in Wales, and an unknown number are living in the wild.<\/p>\n The Welsh government hopes the changes can bring huge benefits to nature<\/p>\n Commenting on the legislative changes Huw Irranca-Davies said: “I’m pleased to confirm that we will establish a Wales Beaver Forum to help manage some of the concerns raised, including around potential species impacts, land use and water systems.”<\/p>\n The Wales Beaver Forum will meet for the first time in November.<\/p>\n Mary Lewis, Head of Natural Resource Management Policy for NRW, said beavers played a “crucial role” in shaping ecosystems.<\/p>\n “Their activities in rivers and wetlands help create rich, diverse habitats that support a wide range of species. <\/p>\n “They also provide important environmental benefits, such as improving water quality and reducing flood risk by slowing the flow of water through river systems.”<\/p>\n She said the re-introduction of beavers could make our environment “more resilient and healthier”.<\/p>\n NRW will continue requiring licences for any wild beaver releases and retains authority to issue management licences where necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PA Beavers disappeared from Britain about 400 years ago after being hunted to extinction European beavers are set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-177864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"PA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/29b261f0-9fc7-11f0-9657-87c2ccf2abb3.jpg.webp.webp\")
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