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Let's not go back to the Middle Ages.
Beavers have been extinct in Britain for
a very long time. Maybe there's a
good reason for that
Magnus Linklater
Editor: Scottish Edition, The Times
Filed 19 Dec 08
©Magnus Linklater
This article was originally published on 10th December 2008 in The Times .
It is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author and of the newspaper
There are times when the world of nature conservation lurches dangerously close to lunacy. Its real purpose should be to conserve our natural heritage. All too often, however, it finds itself inventing a heritage all of its own, forgetting the basic laws of natural history.
Take this example: yesterday Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the government-funded body that looks after conservation in Scotland, announced a plan to stop the inexorable advance of the grey squirrel, a rat-like species that is expanding its territory and threatening to wipe out the native red squirrel. Bigger and more aggressive than the native red, the North American grey squirrel was brought to Woburn Abbey, in Bedfordshire, in the 19th century. From here it spread so rapidly that it drove out red squirrels in much of England, Wales, and the Scottish Lowlands. There are now more than 2.5 million greys in Britain, almost 16 times the number of the 160,000 remaining reds.
You might have thought that SNH would have learnt the lessons of history - that alien species can run out of control. And yet, some time next year, a colony of 17 beavers, imported from Norway, will be released into the Scottish Highlands, part of a pilot project to see whether they can be introduced more widely. The hope is that these nose-twitching, undoubtedly endearing creatures, will become a familiar part of the Scottish countryside.
It is far from clear why this is being done. SNH, which is behind the project, argues that beavers were once common in Britain, and that it would be nice to have them back. It quotes European legislation in its support, saying that the EU Habitats Directive requires member states to reintroduce extinct species.
“The beaver is a charismatic species which would serve to raise wider biodiversity issues such as riparian woodland management, aspen restoration, wetland biodiversity and dead wood habitat,”
says its website.
The very language seems obscure, let alone the intent behind it.
Closer study of the beaver reveals that, while it may once have been familiar, it has been extinct in Britain for a very long time. The last records of it being found here date back to the 16th century. It appears to have been driven out as farming land extended and trees were cleared. Quite possibly, the managers of salmon rivers and lochs found its habit of gnawing through trees, building dams and burrowing into river banks a threat to local economies. Conservation bodies did not exist in those days, so the beaver's fate was sealed.
I can understand the arguments for reintroducing a species that has only recently become extinct - the osprey, wiped out in the early part of the 20th century, is a good example. But taking this huge ecological lurch back to the Middle Ages, seems perverse, if not mildly insane. Then, Britain was clothed in forests, with wolves, bears and other wild animals roaming the land. Today we have a land cleared for agriculture. SNH, however, argues that beavers can have
“a positive impact upon local wildlife and can become significant wildlife tourism attractions for local economies”.
It says that 73 per cent of the people of mid-Argyll support the idea, and that the project will be closely monitored.
Quite who constitutes this 73 per cent is unclear. No local farmer, angler, landowner or river manager, as far as I know, has ever supported the project. Anyone involved in the one industry that makes money in the Highlands - fishing - views the imminent arrival of the beavers with horror. Robin Malcolm, who farms 1,000 acres in Knapdale, said he was baffled by wildlife organisations that seemed
“dedicated to a project which can only damage the Scottish countryside”.
He points to evidence from as far afield as Patagonia, New England, Norway and the upper reaches of the Danube which shows that beavers pose a significant threat to woodland and river banks, destroying trees such as aspen and oak, leading to the flooding of farmland and the disruption of salmon rivers.
Jamie McGrigor, MSP, who instigated a debate on the subject recently in the Scottish Parliament, agrees.
“The agenda is being set by a relatively small number of people who want to experiment with the Scottish countryside,”
he said.
What seems common to most conservation bodies is the way that they tend to discount objections from people who live in the countryside. In similar fashion, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds defends the reintroduction of sea eagles despite the objections of farmers who complain that these vast birds of prey have been seizing their lambs.
It seems perverse, at a time when rural economies are under such pressure, that conservation projects, whose objectives seem frivolous, should be pursued - and with such febrile logic. At a fierce meeting in Argyll to discuss the issue of sea eagles recently, an RSPB man came out with a startling argument: rejecting the suggestion that they took live lambs, he said that evidence from the nest-sites showed they ate fulmars instead. Now fulmars are a graceful and elegant species of sea-bird, whose own existence is by no means secure. Yet here was a conservation spokesman arguing that a native bird was little more than a larder for a newly introduced killer species. That strikes me not just as frivolous, but irresponsible as well.
©Magnus Linklater
Further reading recommended by Land-Care
Macleod, Kirsty (2006). The introduction of sea eagles to the coasts of Scotland.
See ENVIRONMENT HOMEPAGE, filed 05 Nov 06, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
Wade, Mike (2008). Crofters demand 'lamb eating' sea eagles be removed.
This article was originally published in The Times on 30th September 2008. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author and of the newspaper.
See HOMEPAGE, filed 02 Oct 08, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
Macleod, Kirsty (2005). Beavers and SNH
See ENVIRONMENT HOMEPAGE, filed 12 Mar 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
Linklater, Magnus (2008). Britain's got talon: we must defy the sea-eagle lovers. Reintroducing birds of prey into the wild merely gives environmentalists a passing thrill.
This article was originally published in The Times on 24th September 2008. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author and of the newspaper.
See HOMEPAGE, filed 26 Sep 08, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View
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