SRA Annual Report 2022-23: Somerset Beaver Strategy
So that well-informed, evidence-based and science-led decisions can be taken about beavers in Somerset, and suitable plans agreed, the SRA Board agreed in 2021 to fund the development of a Somerset Beaver Strategy.
Subsequent work by FWAG SW and Somerset Wildlife Trust was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, then a pause for a government consultation about beavers in England, which resulted in October 2022 in them becoming a protected species.
A Somerset Beaver Strategy is now expected by autumn 2023, covering three main subjects.
Firstly, scientific evidence of the many benefits but also the risks of beavers, their new legally-protected status and their current Somerset habitations.
Secondly, mapping opportunities and risks across Somerset, taking the Somerset Frome catchment as a detailed example, as beavers are breeding there.
Thirdly, various needs:
- the need for Beaver Management Groups (BMGs) and guidance about how they should work
- how to finance BMGs and support land managers who have beavers on or near their land
- the need for places for beavers to live, if they need to be moved from where they are