Sussex Wildlife Trust welcomes the announcement today allowing licensed releases of Beavers into the wild in England, whilst confirming that all existing wild populations can remain and expand naturally.

This means that rather than releasing into isolated enclosures, the Government will support catchment-scale releases of Beavers. For the first time in over 400 years, Beavers can live and move freely in our rivers.

Only 14% of rivers in the UK are in good ecological condition and Beavers are natural ecosystem engineers, slowing the flow of water, filtering pollution and creating the conditions for an explosion of wetland and river wildlife. The Government recently committed to spending billions of pounds on hard infrastructure to combat flooding as well as compensating farmers for lost crops due to changing weather patterns. Beavers represent a nature-based solution to the issues our rivers and communities face.

This news is a positive step towards restoring this key native species and realising the many benefits that it can bring for both people and wildlife.

Chryssa Brown, Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Species Recovery Officer, has welcomed the news: “This is a landmark day for nature. We are thrilled to be hearing that the UK Government supports wild releases of Beavers.

"Beavers, who have been recognised legally as a native species in England since October 2022, play an important role in restoring wildlife abundance by creating habitats that can benefit a variety of other species. This news opens doors and we look forward to continuing our work with local stakeholders to explore the feasibility of returning wild Beavers to Sussex”.

Sussex Wildlife Trust has been working in partnership with various stakeholders to understand more about how Beavers will function in our local environments and how best we can support our community.

We are committed to ensuring any reintroduction programmes in Sussex are sustainable, consider the full scale of benefits and challenges that a species may pose, whilst ensuring the best outcomes for people and nature.

Alongside this announcement, Natural England has developed a detailed licencing process to make sure that stakeholders are engaged and landowners are supported throughout each stage of a release, to include ongoing management and advice. Sussex Wildlife Trust is committed to this process going forward.

Sussex Wildlife Trust supports the Wildlife Trusts’ vision to protect at least 30% of land for nature by 2030 and alongside this, the return of wild Beavers to our national landscape.

If you would like more information, please contact us on [email protected]