Today I have received word that the management of the Knepp Wildland Project, a well-known large-scale rewilding project located in Sussex near Horsham that I had the pleasure of visiting October last year, has been given approval by Natural England to proceed with their trial reintroduction of Eurasian Beavers.
The second largest rodents on the planet, these animals that were once native the UK are a keystone species that create wetland habitat for fish, amphibians and invertebrates alike while mitigating floods by slowing the flow of water and creating pools with their dams. Their foraging behaviour also acts to naturally coppice reeds, grasses and trees around them. One of multiple reintroduction schemes around the country, it seems as though the thought of reintroducing once extinct species back into the UK is becoming a more widely accepted idea, creating further potential for other important reintroductions of other species.
Further info can be found in Knepp Wildland Project’s official article on the matter: