iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Working to realise the ecological benefits of beaver activities while protecting and preserving migratory fish populations.

We are also working with stakeholders to develop a practical management framework that will allow users to assess beaver dams for fish passage and make informed decisions about whether management may be needed. Learn more about beaver–fish interactions on our website. beavertrust.org/our-... 7/7

beavertrust.org

Beavers and fish

041

We are funding and working in partnership with a number of organisations across Britain to better understand how beaver dams change over time and what this means for fish passage. 6/7

This timelapse follows one beaver dam from September to December 2025, showing just how dramatically it changes as river flows rise and fall. 5/7

At some sites, when flows increase, the resident family may make little or no attempt to maintain the dam, allowing its shape, height and structure to change considerably. 4/7

Water can pass around, through and, during higher autumn and spring flows, completely overtop them, providing routes that fish may use to swim or leap around, through or over these structures. Beavers build dams to maintain sufficient water depth to move safely through their territory. 3/7

One concern sometimes raised is that beaver dams could act as barriers, preventing already threatened fish from reaching spawning habitat. But unlike permanent structures such as weirs or hydropower structures, beaver dams are highly dynamic. 2/7

Beaver Trust @beavertrust.org · 15/09/2026

Beaver dams are constantly changing As we head into autumn, we enter a key period for migratory fish, with species such as Atlantic salmon returning upstream to their natal spawning grounds. 1/7

1112

Taking inspiration from beaver engineering can help us to build better habitats for species like Coho salmon, with beaver dam analogues. New beaver populations have genetic diversity thanks to mixing sources and diversity within relict populations. 2/4

100

Beaver Trust @beavertrust.org · 15/09/2026

What does the latest beaver science tell us? 🦫 People’s opinions on beavers vary widely, but early-stage education, ongoing engagement and rapid support can help create positive relationships between beavers and communities in their catchment. 1/4

192

Public engagement and running events is a core part of their work, and since joining in August last year, Şeniz has helped engage over 9,000 guests. The site is a great example of how we can successfully live alongside urban beavers, while benefiting human and wildlife communities. 6/7

The site hosted the cast of Disney’s Hoppers - naming one of their beaver kits “Mabel” in their honour, and also featured on BBC’s 2025 David Attenborough documentary: Wild London. 5/7

Their foraging behaviour has encouraged blackthorn to coppice - creating an important habitat where the rare brown hairstreak butterfly can lay its eggs, boosting population numbers. 4/7

The rewetted landscape provides drought resilience and slows the flow of water during high rainfall, reducing flooding in the residential areas of Greenford and the lobby of Greenford tube station. 3/7

The dynamic wetland habitat the beavers created has become a haven for nature and supported the local community. 2/7

What have beavers been up to in London? 🦫 Three years ago, Beaver Trust supported the release of beavers at Ealing Beaver Project, in Paradise Fields, West London. Last month, we caught up with Urban Beaver Officer @senizdoesnature.bsky.social 1/7

2155

Check clothing, footwear and equipment for plant material and mud, clean them thoroughly, and allow them to dry completely before visiting another waterbody. 9/9

030

These effects are interesting, but should never replace active management. You can also help stop invasive species moving between rivers and wetlands by following Check, Clean, Dry. 8/9

The resident beaver family now has a much wider range of native plants available to browse. At another site in Britain, increased water levels created by beavers have also flooded areas of invasive rhododendron, causing some plants to die back. 7/9

That is what the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative has achieved in this area of The River Tay catchment. Years of targeted treatment, have greatly reduced its abundance and allowed native vegetation to recover. 6/9

Beavers may browse or submerge invasive species, but they cannot be relied upon to solve the problem or be seen as the cause of their presence. We need sustained, catchment scale management, working systematically from source to sea over a number of years. 5/9

Beavers may also move vegetation around their territory, including upstream. But beavers shouldn’t have to interact with these species in the first place. Invasive plants are present because of human introduction and spread, and managing them remains a human responsibility. 4/9

Beavers are messy eaters, and vegetation can break off and be left in the water as they feed. This is a concern with invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam. Knotweed can regenerate from very small pieces, so fragments could be carried downstream and establish. 3/9

Their diet changes with what is available locally, so they sometimes browse invasive non native plants, including Rhododendron ponticum, Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed and more. At this site, beavers were feeding on Japanese knotweed, but this should not be considered control. 2/9

Beaver Trust @beavertrust.org · 20/08/2026

Can beavers help us control invasive plants? Beavers are herbivorous and have been recorded eating more than 400 species of plants. 1/9

1140

If you would like to read the research paper mentioned, ‘Positive coexistence of water voles and beaver’, you can read it here: static1.squarespace.... 3/3

030

Beaver Trust @beavertrust.org · 20/08/2026

During a recent site visit, the team found fresh signs of water vole activity in a beaver-dug canal - an encouraging sign that these restored wetlands are supporting a wider range of species. They also recorded one of the largest beaver dams found so far in the wild in Kent. 2/3

Picture: a beaver canal with a water vole latrine at the edge

Text reads: In a recent field survey, our team spotted this fresh water vole latrine in a beaver-dug canal.

Picture: a beaver dam constructed of sticks and mud

Text reads: They also found one of the biggest dams found so far in the wild in Kent. Dams are less common in Kent due to the low-lying marshlands and slow-moving ditches providing the stable, deep-water habitats beavers need, often complemented by existing human-managed water structures that regulate levels to their liking.

170

Beaver Trust @beavertrust.org · 20/08/2026

A promising sign from a restored peatland in Kent 💧 The River Stour (Kent) IDB and partners have been restoring peatland habitats. Since then, beavers have been helping to keep the peatland wet through this prolonged dry period, while creating new and varied wetland habitats. 1/3

Picture: a water vole latrine and sizing guide

Text reads: Field signs of water voles spotted in a beaver-occupied restored peatland ecosystem
Find out more with arrow

Picture: a water vole latrine and sizing guide

Text reads: The discovery of water vole activity in a beaver-occupied restored peatland is an excellent sign of a naturally functioning, healthy ecosystem.
The discovery of water vole activity is an excellent sign of a naturally functioning, healthy ecosystem.
Research shows that beaver activity can have a positive influence on water vole (Arvicola amphibius) populations by:
1
Ideal water conditions: Water voles have a strong preference for slow-moving or still water with stable levels
2
More diverse vegetation: By opening up the canopy, growth of lush aquatic emergent vegetation is stimulated
3
Connectivity: The canals and ditches excavated by beavers serve as protected movement corridors
4
leave food debris at feeding stations, which are valuable "leftovers" for water voles and other small rodents
Food availability: Interspecific competition is low, and beavers can

Picture: an american mink in a grassland.

Text reads: Evasion of American mink
The primary threat to water voles in Britain is predation by the non-native American mink, Neogale vison.

Mature beaver habitats are structurally complex, and it has been shown that they provide complex hiding places and refuges, which makes it harder for mink to hunt them.

Surveys from the River Otter Beaver Trial in England confirmed that water voles expanded their range into the new wetland habitats created by beavers.

1228

Reposted by Beaver Trust

Heal Rewilding @healrewilding.org.uk · 12/08/2026

Who knew beavers created lawns?! We've learnt a lot by watching the kits. They forage close to the water's edge, using their sharp teeth to 'mow' the grassy banks, creating open spaces where sunlight can filter down to the ground and hopefully encouraging different species to grow.

0236

Nicola Chester @nicolawriting.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Thank you Nicola! Really glad Rob's talk was informative and that you came away from it with such positive feelings. 🦫

110

Reposted by Beaver Trust

My column in this month's BBC Countryfile Magazine is all about Beavers & how we learn to co-exist with them. I for one am delighted, I never thought I'd hear of them on our chalkstreams. @riverkennet.bsky.social & @beavertrust.org held some brilliant community engagement events.

66522

Kits lose body heat significantly faster than adult beavers, and care from older family members, such as parents and older siblings, continues until the kits are able to keep their own fur water-repellent at around one-and-a-half to two months of age. 4/5

110

Adults will groom each other, a reciprocal act that helps to maintain harder-to-reach areas of their coat. They also groom their kits, which is essential to help them thermoregulate (maintain a healthy temperature). 3/5

100

These secretions are different to castoreum, a substance that beavers use for scent marking. You can sometimes spot beavers swimming by the trail of bubbles they leave behind, as small pockets of air escape their fur and float to the surface. 2/5

100

Why is grooming so important to beavers? 🦫 Beavers’ fur helps to insulate them from the cold and keep them buoyant. Through careful grooming and the application of oily secretions from a gland near the base of their tail, beavers keep a layer of insulating air trapped beneath their fur. 1/5

1113

The evidence confirms that beaver restoration in England, Scotland and Wales is the return of a native species to its natural range, not the introduction of a new one. Discover more about Britain’s beaver history 👇 beavertrust.org/beav... (6/6) 6/6

Neolithic beaver-gnawed wood
from Shapwick Heath, Somerset
(Bell, 2020). Hundreds of pieces of historical gnawed beaver wood have been recovered from over 20 sites across Britain from East London to Caldicot Castle, Wales to Covesea, Morayshire, Scotland.

A piece of wood with clear beaver tooth marks in the base, sitting in a bed of wet mud.

031

By contrast, there is no confirmed historical evidence of beavers in Ireland, probably because the island became separated from Britain before beavers could reach it during post-glacial recolonisation. (5/6) 5/6

Fascinated by accounts of beavers in Wales from the 14th to 16th century and their extinction, the Marquess of Bute brought several pairs from mainland Europe in 1874 for a pioneering reintroduction project into an enclosure on the Isle of Bute. One pair was first kept in a purpose-built pond at Cardiff Castle so the Marquess could oberve the animals. Several beavers were carved into Cardiff Castle’s library bookcases between 1874 and 1880 to commemorate the project.

Alongside place names, carvings, written accounts and even the inclusion of beavers on historical vermin lists. (4/6) 4/6

A beaver skull dating from 840–410 BC, originally believed to have been discovered during peat digging at Marlee Loch near Blairgowrie, Scotland in 1788, on display at Perth Museum. It is one of around 200 fossilised beaver remains found across Britain.

The skull is a silvery grey colour, in a display case.

110

It includes bones and beaver-gnawed wood dating to the Late Palaeolithic period, around 13,500–9,500 BC (3/6) 3/6

There are over 300 historic records of beavers across Britain, including fossilised bones, wood and cultural records.

A map of Britain, with beaver skull, fossilised, beaver gnawed wood and book icons scattered across it, each representing a fossil or historic record.

121

The evidence is overwhelming. More than 300 archaeological and historical records demonstrate the former presence of beavers across Britain, backed by a substantial body of peer-reviewed research. (2/6) 2/6

How do we know beavers are native to Britain?
Explore the historical evidence.

A beaver sitting up in a river, staring at the camera, food in mouth.

131