4 minute read

Or, you can listen to the full conversation on The Wild Cornwall Podcast.

Where are we?

We're down at the Cornwall Beaver Project, which is amazing partnership project with Woodland Valley Farm, the University of Exeter and the Beaver Trust. And we're sat right next to the main beaver pond at Woodland Valley Farm, not far away from the beaver lodge. So, even though it's the middle of the day, I will keep my voice down slightly because we know the beavers are in there.

What do you do for Cornwall Wildlife Trust?

I'm the Conservation Manager, which means I'm really lucky: I get to work on all of our land-based conservation projects, even some of those that are in our nature reserves. But it's different than being part of the nature reserves team. We call it the ‘living landscapes’: projects where we're working with lots of partners across Cornwall doing some amazing things from badger vaccination to beaver reintroduction.

Do you have a favourite part of your job?

Oh, that's a really tricky one… I must say, beavers are probably the top of the list because the things they do for free for nature, and the wildlife that comes along with them is so exciting. And I'm an ecologist. So I want to see that wildlife!

Is this what you wanted to do when you were 5 years old?

Good question! So there are photos of me with caterpillars on my fingers and chasing bumblebees around with jam jars and stuff like that. I think I always had it in me. But I didn’t think I'd be as lucky as I am being involved in some of these amazing projects. I've been to some amazing places across the world as well… but actually, to live in Cornwall and work on this reintroduction project with this amazing animal is literally gold dust conservation work. So I'm very, very lucky to be here.

Let's talk about beavers. When did you first ever see one?

It was here! The project was in its first year and that first time I saw them, I was amazed. And I still am. Every time I come.

Am I right in thinking that they were once native to Britain?

Yes! We've got fossil records of them from pretty much every part of Britain. We think they went extinct in Cornwall probably 600 to 800 years ago. Which is a shame, but they're a very obvious animal and very easily hunted. That's what led to their demise. Unfortunately, they're very interesting species. In fact, they've got a fantastic fur coat, which is brilliant for making hats with and coats, and also they can be used for meat. So we lost them quite a long time ago, but we've got them back now!

The beaver walk starts at 7.30pm. Are they nocturnal?

They are nocturnal. They're most active at dusk and dawn.

Why reintroduce them? What are the benefits?

There are many, many benefits of beavers. Cornwall Wildlife Trust is really interested in the wildlife that booms as a result of them. Beavers bring water to the landscape… and water brings life, which means you get the base of the food chain coming back. So, here we’ve seen many more bats, fish, birds… all because of the beavers! But there are lots of human benefits, too. You may have heard that they're fantastic for flooding. The dams they build hold water back and slow it down, which is brilliant for flood alleviation. They're also fantastic, because of the mud that they create in their ponds, which sequesters carbon!

They sound really valuable! Can you tell us a little bit more about this project here?

Basically, it was a result of Chris Jones, the farmer here. As a result of two flooding events within a month in 2012 Chris wondered what he could do to help with the storage of water in the catchment. So we started investigating – and he wanted to keep it as natural as possible. He didn't want concrete all over his farm. Hearing about natural flood management measures, he started investigating, got some advice and thought that beavers could be part of that solution.

So he started talking to the Wildlife Trust and we began working together. We joined up with the University of Exeter, they put in some amazing hydrology monitoring equipment in 2015. So we had two years of pre-beaver data.

Tell us about the beavers who first arrived.

We had a male and a female beaver released. We were hoping they would couple up and breed. And we were so lucky: in that first year they started building a lodge and they bred, having kits that following spring. Their names? We put it out to the public as part of the Crowdfunder and from that they were named Willow and Chewy!

What about the beaver walks?

We’ve now got two a week. We run one on a Wednesday and a Thursday night. So you can book up on our website. There aren’t too many people down here. You get a bit of space to yourself, so you can really feel like you're in the wilderness that is the beaver project. Hopefully you get to see the beavers, but you also listen and learn. Hear the amazing sounds that we're hearing right now.

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