{"id":793808,"date":"2026-10-06T14:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793808\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T14:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:38:08","slug":"borders-residents-invited-to-share-views-on-beaver-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793808\/","title":{"rendered":"Borders residents invited to share views on beaver return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Public input is being sought following a recent debate at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bordertelegraph.com\/topics\/scottish-borders-council\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Scottish Borders Council<\/a> about the return of the species to the Tweed catchment.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Elected members agreed an amendment which called for a holistic approach to restoring the river, including more riparian woodland.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Beavers on Tweed, a non-profit organisation based in the region, has welcomed the discussion but urged caution against ruling out licensed translocation as an option.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Ben Douglas, director of Beavers on Tweed and a farmer near <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bordertelegraph.com\/news\/galashiels\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Galashiels<\/a>, said: &#8220;We strongly agree that beavers must be considered as part of the health of the whole catchment.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Scotland faces serious nature depletion, and the Tweed needs more riparian woodland, healthier wetlands and more resilient habitats.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Beavers can contribute to that by creating wetland habitat, supporting biodiversity and helping water stay in the landscape for longer during both wet and dry periods.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Councillors have supported an approach favouring natural recolonisation from neighbouring river systems over earlier human intervention.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  However, Mr Douglas said it was too soon to rule out planned restoration.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He said: &#8220;A planned restoration can allow suitable locations to be assessed in advance, involve land managers from the outset and establish an appropriate founder population.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Dr Philip Ashmole MBE, a Peebles resident and director of Beavers on Tweed, highlighted the historical presence of beavers in the area.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He said: &#8220;For thousands of years after the last Ice Age, beavers lived alongside salmon on the River Tweed.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Beavers created riparian wetlands and woodlands teeming with insects and other wildlife, while migratory fish evolved alongside beaver dams.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Dr Ashmole said their extinction in medieval times left behind a &#8220;broken ecosystem&#8221; and that their return offers a chance to restore natural balance and improve climate resilience.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He added:\u00a0\u201cBeavers can also benefit wildlife tourism, and farmers and land managers who make space for them should be properly supported and rewarded.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;There is a great deal to gain if we approach restoration thoughtfully.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Bridie Ashrowan, director of Beavers on Tweed, welcomed the council\u2019s engagement on the issue.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  She said: &#8220;No release proposal has been made.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;We are still at the stage of building evidence, relationships and public understanding.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Whether beavers ultimately return naturally, through licensed translocation, or through some combination should be informed by evidence and engagement.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The organisation is inviting feedback from residents, farmers, land managers, anglers and others through a public survey at tweedbeavers.scot\/about\/your-views\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Public input is being sought following a recent debate at Scottish Borders Council about the return of the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-793808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793808","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=793808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}