{"id":235024,"date":"2025-10-31T01:11:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/235024\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T01:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:11:11","slug":"beaver-observatory-approved-in-welsh-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/235024\/","title":{"rendered":"Beaver observatory approved in Welsh national park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Beaver. Photo by Paul Stevenson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.<\/p>\n

Elgan Hearn \u2013 Local democracy reporter<\/p>\n

Visitors to a Welsh nature reserve will be able to view beavers from an observatory soon after plans were give the go ahead by county planners.<\/p>\n

In February, Emyr Evans of Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust lodged a planning application with Powys County Council to build a beaver observation building at Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve at Derwenlas near Machynlleth.<\/p>\n

The nature reserve has a seven-acre enclosure which is home to a small family of beavers.<\/p>\n

The proposal is for the installation of an observation building and a boardwalk access that will connect it to an existing pathway.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Bog<\/p>\n

A feeding station will also form part of the building which is essentially a small flat decking area adjacent to the windows facing the bog \/watercourse.<\/p>\n

A ramp for the beavers will be installed from the bog \/ watercourse to allow them to come up to the feeding station.<\/p>\n

The building itself will consist of a single room and some seating and will also be elevated from ground level.<\/p>\n

Solar panels will be placed on the roof.<\/p>\n

The Welsh Wildlife Trust has established a Beaver Management Network as part of project that could eventually see beavers reintroduced into the wild in Wales.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Management<\/p>\n

This project is based on the beaver management strategies that have been developed in Scotland and Devon.<\/p>\n

The Trust said: \u201cThe enclosure has a perimeter of around 700 metres.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe area contains three interlinked pools, a network of ditches and a mass of birch and willow scrub.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is plenty of food for the beaver family and lots of space for them to explore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe enclosure will be monitored regularly in accordance with our license from Natural Resources Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planning officer Aled Willams said: \u00a0\u201cThe application development site is situated within a flood zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not considered that the proposed works would cause any flooding implications, and it is not vulnerable development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development is therefore considered acceptable in this location.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Williams approved the scheme.<\/p>\n

Beavers were once widespread across the Wales, but due to over hunting for their fur, meat and scent glands they became extinct in Wales just after the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n

By the end of the 16th\u00a0Century, they were extinct from the rest of Britain.<\/p>\n

Beavers are known as a \u2018keystone species\u2019 because their activities can benefit a wide range of other animals and plants that live in rivers and wetlands.<\/p>\n

They very special animals because they play a vital role in enriching biodiversity by restoring and managing river and wetland ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Support our Nation today<\/p>\n

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an
\n independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by
\n the people of Wales.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beaver. Photo by Paul Stevenson is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Elgan Hearn \u2013 Local democracy reporter Visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-235024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-unitedkingdom","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235024","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=235024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}