14/04/2011

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has reacted strongly to news that a pair of beavers will be reintroduced into Ceredigion later this year. The beavers are being reintroduced by the Wales Wild Land Foundation.

The Foundation is in the process of building an enclosed habitat at Artist's Valley, near Machynlleth, and hopes to introduce the beavers this summer. However, the FUW has called the plans to reintroduce the pair “crazy.”

The FUW’s comments come after NFU Cymru expressed reservations about the project in March. NFU Cymru asked the Countryside Council for Wales, to "keep a close eye" on the project. The concerned unions point to Scotland and Poland where governments have sanctioned culls of wild beaver colonies which have escaped from captivity and farmers have accused beavers of damaging crops and livestock.

FUW spokesperson Richard Vaughan said, "We only have to look at the problems associated with the grey squirrel and rabbit, both non-native species, to see the potential for conflict in the future. The Union is also concerned at the problems Scotland is currently experiencing where beavers have escaped from private collections and are evading capture whilst travelling long distances, causing significant damage to trees.

"We are concerned that the introduction of these animals could ultimately cause conflict with agricultural and forestry management. If these animals should escape they are legally protected by EU legislation and, as currently reported in Scotland, controlling them could prove difficult.”

However, The Wildlife Trust said Beavers once played an important role in the UK’s ecosystem. The Trust explained, “Beavers are a vital missing link in the UK’s ecosystem and the wetland environment is suffering from the loss of beaver activity. In principle we support the EU’s call for governments to reintroduce lost endemic species and note that England is one of the few remaining countries not to reintroduce beavers.”

Beavers once lived throughout the UK and Europe, but were hunted to extinction; the last few colonies surviving in the UK survived in Scotland until the 17^th Century. Wales’ beavers became extinct in the 12th Century, as beaver pelts were highly sought after. Oil found in glands behind the tail contains salicylic acid –or aspirin- and was used to cure headaches in medieval times.