Contractors are beavering away at Shrewsbury Old River Bed for Shropshire’s beaver release trial

Contractors are beavering away at Shrewsbury Old River Bed for Shropshire’s beaver release trial

Beaver enclosure build starts - Tom and Luke from ATM Ltd (c) E Nickless

Shropshire Wildlife Trust can now reveal that Ainsty Timber Marketing (ATM Ltd) are starting construction of the secure enclosure that will house our urban beaver release trial. After years in the planning, everyone is eagerly watching this project come to life as work at the site gets underway.

The urban beaver trial is a five-year project, in collaboration with Shrewsbury Town Council who own the Old River Bed nature reserve. The Old River Bed, on the edge of Shrewsbury town centre, is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) that is protected for the wetland plants found there. STC have managed the site with machinery and grazing livestock for many years, all of which come at a high financial cost.

The site has the potential to be a great wetland habitat for insects, fish, birds and mammals. However, the current ecosystem is impacted by the fast growth of trees such as willow. Wetlands store more CO2 than woodlands, but if left unmanaged, the willow trees at the Old River Bed would soon outgrow other plants, dry the site out and impact its ability to store carbon. Beavers are a nature-based solution that will help the site flourish. They will help to control the growth of willows through natural coppicing* and reduce their impact on the sensitive wetland habitat. Their engineering should also improve water quality for other wildlife as well as slow the flow of water.

Landscape view of Shrewsbury Old River Bed (C) Rachel Schofield

Landscape view of Shrewsbury Old River Bed (c) Rachel Schofield

Jan McKelvey, Conservation Manager of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, says 

“Beavers are a “keystone species” and they play an important role in restoring our wetland ecosystems and create naturally resilient networks of swamp and open water habitat. Providing natural capital benefits such as flood water storage and improving biodiversity, this is one of the first urban beaver enclosure trials outside of London and we are confident its success will have a positive impact for beavers in the future.“ 

Site preparation was completed earlier in the year. Over the next few months, the phase one construction of the secure beaver enclosure will take shape by contractors ATM Ltd. Roughly rectangular in shape the enclosure will be approximately 8.5 hectares – that’s nearly 16 football pitches in size – what a fantastic location for the new beaver tenants!

The enclosure will be constructed with a combination of fencing techniques and materials to accommodate both dry and wet ground. The security and welfare of beavers and other wildlife is of paramount importance and so the fencing is specifically designed to continue deep down into the ground to dissuade beavers from digging under it. This type of fencing has been used successfully in beaver enclosures elsewhere in Britain. Provision for local badger movement has also been included so they can move in and around the area safely. Wildlife and biodiversity monitoring will continue throughout the whole project.

There will be a 280m external pedestrian boardwalk across the wetland area to the south side of the enclosure to provide safe access for pedestrians to cross from Hubert Way on the east of the Old River Bed to the pathway on the west side.

Beaver

(c) David Parkyn/ Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Once the secure enclosure has been completed phase two will start. This is the process of translocating a pair, or family, of beavers and the associated welfare tasks, as well as education and engagement in the community. The beaver translocation process is extremely specific to support their seasonal routines, which means we won't know the date beavers will arrive until later in the year. Their welfare is our top priority, so bear with us, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Councillor Alan Mosley, Leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, says  

“We’re excited to be bringing beavers back to Shropshire after being absent from our county for so long. Beavers are a natural and sustainable solution to managing habitats. We spend a lot of time and money managing sites for nature, which beavers can do better and cheaper at the Old River Bed allowing us to focus funds on other countryside sites and habitat improvements elsewhere.  I’m sure that there will be tremendous interest in the project from members of the public and the Town Council’s footpath extension and improvement works will provide access all around the site.” 

The Shropshire Beaver Project has been made possible by experts and funders to whom we are extremely grateful. Thanks go to the funding partners including Severn Trent Water, Veolia Environmental Trust and Potter Group as part of the Landfill Communities Fund, Beaver Bridges and the John Ellerman Foundation as well as the generosity of Shropshire Wildlife Trust members and supporters.

England is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries and beavers offer a chance to reverse the dramatic decline in our wildlife by allowing nature to restore itself. Release projects are already underway in several locations across England and Wales. They have proved to be hugely successful in managing wetlands more sensitively, enabling nature solutions to many environmental issues.

More information about Bringing Back Beavers to Shropshire can be found here: www.shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/bringing-back-beavers

*Willow trees are very fast growing and coppicing doesn't kill the tree: it simply controls their growth rate and fresh shoots soon appear from their bases.

Editor's notes

Partners and funders:

Shrewsbury Town Council came into being on 01 April 2009 as a result of Local Government reorganisation. The Town Council's area includes the whole of Shrewsbury town centre and adjoining residential areas. With a population of over 70,000 it is one of the largest town councils in England. The Town Council is responsible for horticultural services, The Quarry, numerous small parks, sports pitches, recreation grounds, allotments, green spaces, the provision of the town's markets, community facilities, bus shelters, street lighting and public toilets. The Town Council is also proud of its reputation for making Shrewsbury a "town of flowers" and winner of the Britain in Bloom and Entente Florale European competitions. www.shrewsburytowncouncil.gov.uk

The Veolia Environmental Trust has been supporting community and environmental projects through the Landfill Communities Fund for over 25 years. Since we were established in 1997, Veolia has supported us with contributions totalling over £100 million, enabling over 2,700 projects to successfully complete. These have included ones to repair woodland footpaths, improve community halls and the install skateparks and playgrounds. For more information, or to find out how to apply for funding, visit our website www.veoliatrust.org.

The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) is a tax credit scheme enabling Landfill Operators (LOs) to contribute money to organisations enrolled with ENTRUST as Environmental Bodies (EBs). They use this funding for a wide range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of landfill sites. LOs are able to claim a credit (currently 5.3%) against their landfill tax liability for 90% of the contributions they make. Since its inception in 1996, over £1.6 billion has been spent on almost 60,000 projects across the UK. For further information, please visit www.entrust.org.uk or see HMRC’s general guide to Landfill Tax.

Severn Trent is the UK’s second biggest water company. It serves 4.8m homes and business customers in England and Wales. Its region stretches from mid-Wales to Rutland and from north and mid-Wales south to the Bristol Channel and east to the Humber. The company delivers almost two billion litres of water every day through 50,000km of pipes. A further 93,000km of sewer pipes takes wastewater away to more than 1,000 sewage treatment works. www.severntrent.com

Beaver Bridges provide a turn-key bridge building service throughout the UK and Europe with an experienced team of fully qualified transporters, erectors, designers and engineers. We work with a wide range of clients from the biggest government agencies and multinational construction firms right through to private land owners, farmers, forestry companies and industry to provide bridges made from every material in every environment. www.beaverbridges.co.uk

John Ellerman Foundation is an independent and endowed grantmaking foundation that aims to advance the wellbeing of people, society and the natural world. One of the main ways they do this is by funding charities for work that has national significance in the arts, environment and social action (their funding categories). www.ellerman.org.uk

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