Plan to reintroduce beavers to borough

A council in Derbyshire is pursuing plans to reintroduce beavers in a bid to boost biodiversity.

Erewash Borough Council's draft biodiversity strategy could see the Eurasian beaver find a new home in the Erewash valley.

The move follows work by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to breed a beaver population at Willington Wetlands nature reserve in 2021, which brought the species back to the county for the first time in 800 years.

"Hopefully we'll be able to look out for beavers around the borough in the future," said Becca Everett, the borough council's deputy leader.

The wildlife trust said beavers played a crucial role as "ecosystem engineers".

Reintroduction costs "thousands of pounds per beaver", but their return helps to improve water quality and reduce flood risks, said the trust.

The council report also listed increasing the number of wader species - birds commonly found wading along shorelines or river mouths - as another potential wildlife project.

Everett added: "We're excited to look at introducing more wildlife into Erewash through our draft biodiversity report.

"The proposed objective to reintroduce Eurasian beavers is thrilling, but it's still in the early stages.

"Introducing species like beavers that help mitigate flood risk could create a safer, more attractive environment for our borough too."

Council executives will review the biodiversity report on Tuesday.

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