EURASIAN beavers, a native British species and Europe’s largest rodent, are returning to Ealing for the first time in 400 years.
It’s a project led by community and conservation groups to demonstrate their benefits to people and nature.
This will be London’s first truly urban landscape in which beavers are introduced.
Paradise Fields, an area of woodland and wetlands in Greenford, is identified in a licence application to Natural England, supported by the Beaver Trust.
The project is a collaboration between Ealing Wildlife Group, Citizen Zoo, the Friends of Horsenden Hill and Ealing Council, with support from the Beaver Trust.
As beavers are already living wild as close as the Medway and Oxfordshire, it may only be a matter of time before they arrive of their own accord.
The project will allow residents, landowners and others to learn how to live alongside this dynamic species in a controlled enclosed trial.
The site will be open to the public from the autumn.
Sean McCormack, vet and chair of Ealing Wildlife Group said: “Many people assume beavers to be a wilderness species.
“In fact we’ve just forgotten how closely we used to live alongside them.”
Elliot Newton, co-founder of Citizen Zoo, added: “We are hoping to demonstrate how London, too, can embrace these ecosystem engineers as we strive for a healthier, wilder future.”
Ealing Beaver Project is offering a talk on the project next Wednesday (15) at 7.30pm. See https://ealingwildlifegroup.com/event-calendar/
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here