SWBGs vision of the future, which takes full account of the real conflict that can occur at times between beavers and farmers on low-lying agricultural land, is focused on three potential solutions: mitigating beaver impacts through fencing and flow devices; incentivising farmers to farm less intensively close to water courses and to allow natural river management; and in the case of conflicts that cannot be resolved, for the beavers to be trapped and relocated to other parts of Scotland where they will be welcomed and can benefit Nature and human communities.  

Currently the Scottish Government will not allow translocation to anywhere in Scotland outside Tayside and Knapdale.  The government have accredited over 200 individuals to shoot beavers in Tayside and have liberally issued killing licences to the farmers on ‘Prime Agricultural Land’, resulting in a shocking level of licensed killing.  While trapping and moving beavers to England is occurring in limited numbers and is preferable to shooting them, it is a travesty that these beavers cannot be moved to other parts of Scotland as well.

SWBG will continue to campaign for better beaver policy until killing beavers genuinely becomes an option of absolutely last resort, rather than the ‘go-to’ solution. With fewer than 500 beavers in Scotland, and no more than 1000 in the whole of the UK, thousands of acres of suitable habitat, and a high demand around the countryside for beavers and the ecosystem services and benefits they provide for free, this is not the time for lethal control.  Alternatives – ‘win-win’ solutions – exist, which can benefit people, Nature and the health of ecosystems, helping combat the twin Scottish crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.