Farmers and conservationists debate UK species reintroduction

THE LYNX — DAVID HETHERINGTON

For some, the idea of bringing large carnivores back into Britain’s busy, human-modified countryside may seem ludicrous. However, the Eurasian lynx has been subject to a dozen or so reintroduction projects across Europe since the 1970s, typically to wooded, hilly regions, which are nevertheless well populated by people and used for farming, forestry, tourism and hunting.

Of Europe’s three large carnivore species – the Eurasian lynx, wolf and brown bear – the lynx is generally seen as the least problematic for people to coexist with. At 20-25kg and solitary by nature, it is by far the smallest of the three and very wary of humans. As such, is not considered a threat to human safety.

In regions of Europe where all three large carnivore species occur, such as in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania and Slovakia, shepherds’ concerns for the safety of their flocks relate to the risk of bear or wolf attack, rather than lynx.

The lynx is a forest-dwelling predator of deer. Roe deer represent the ideal prey, i.e. plenty of meat to last a few days, but not so large that there is a significant risk of injury. In some parts of Europe, where roe are scarcer, lynx also prey on chamois, reindeer and red deer calves and hinds (but not stags, as these are too big). Typically, a lynx will eat a deer per week.

They are a highly territorial, low-density species, whose territories are far larger than those predators we’re used to thinking about in the UK, such as foxes, badgers and pine martens. A male lynx could easily have a territory of 200 sq km, which may straddle the territories of two or three females. The density of deer in the landscape determines the density of lynx.

As the UK rapidly expands its woodland cover to meet the challenges of the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis, as well as the burgeoning timber market, more and more habitat will be created for deer and, potentially, for lynx.

At the same time, the costs of managing deer to protect tree growth are likely to increase considerably in the years ahead. Having in our woodlands a year-round ambush predator of deer – whether roe, red or sika in upland conifer plantations or muntjac and fallow in lowland broadleaved woodland – could come in handy. We know from studies across Europe that lynx also regularly kill foxes. This has been shown in some parts of northern Europe to benefit populations of ground-nesting birds.

In parts of Europe where it has been reintroduced, such as in Germany, the lynx’s charisma has enabled it to be used as an effective poster child for the growing nature-based tourism sector.

It’s not always plain sailing, though (just as it hasn’t with reintroduced beavers and sea eagles in the UK). Conflicts with people can and do flare-up. As an efficient predator of deer, the lynx competes with human hunters, who can become disgruntled if they think lynx are killing “their” deer. This is the most common source of tension with people across Europe, especially in countries where deer are scarcer and hunting more popular than here in the UK.

A more localised conflict can occur around sheep. In countries where sheep are grazed in open pasture (such as happens in the UK), lynx predation is very small-scale and there are ways of managing it. For example, in Switzerland, problem lynx (those that kill 15 sheep in a year) are shot under licence. There are also government-funded prevention measures available, such as livestock-guarding dogs, and even donkeys or llamas.

The Swiss have a compensation scheme that pays out on verified kills, according to the value of the affected sheep. In a country with a lynx population of around 300, annual losses of sheep typically amount to between 20 and 50 (compared with roughly 15,000 wild roe deer and chamois). Lethal control has not been needed since 2003, because no individual lynx has killed 15 sheep per year since then, thanks partly to the prevention measures deployed.

Do you think the lynx should be reintroduced to the UK?

Dr David Hetherington is an ecologist and author of The Lynx and Us, published by Scotland: The Big Picture and illustrated with Laurent Geslin’s stunning photography. 

THE BEAVER — EVA BISHOP 

Few species on this planet would have a LinkedIn profile quite like the beaver. Described as a keystone species and ecosystem engineer, its influence across a riparian landscape is not something to underestimate. Beavers breathe life into streams and rivers, returning drained ditches to thriving living systems.

This rodent is casually equipped with the skills to tackle some of man’s biggest challenges – biodiversity loss, carbon sequestration, flooding, drought and water quality – simply by way of instinct and evolution. Take their dams, for instance, carefully constructed to conceal and protect through increased water levels – yet these structures create habitat for countless other species, as well as storing carbon and filtering pollutants.

Like it or not, beavers are back and, rather than fighting this reality, we need to remind ourselves how to live with them. Following a four-century-long absence, the historic return of the Eurasian beaver to Britain in recent years has somewhat spun the public and press into a frenzy. 

We are learning more about these mammals than ever before. Yet they’re challenging us, as we figure out how to accommodate them in a landscape that prioritises a multitude of different agendas since they were last present. 

But, rather wonderfully, they also test our attitude to change and generate a need to evolve our relationship with land and nature. At a time when one in four mammals in the UK faces extinction and the national state of nature remains among the most depleted in the world, beavers offer a totem for rapid resilience-building and hope. And we would be foolish to ignore it.

Naturally, reintroducing the world’s second largest rodent to an intensively farmed and populated Britain is no easy task. But turning the challenge on its head, the beaver’s unique systemic impact necessitates conservationists, landowners, scientists, farmers, politicians and the public to come together and think differently about how we work the environment, seeing nature as an ally.

Beaver Trust is the first to admit that not all the beaver’s much-celebrated impacts are welcome in every location, so we will need a national strategy to avoid negative outcomes, and a robust, resourced management plan in place to respond when beaver impacts are either unwanted or considered a risk. 

A few examples include floodplains being particularly at risk if water levels are raised or flood defences burrowed into, or ensuring that the integrity of power lines and other man-made structures are not undermined. Footpaths might be flooded, particularly those following rivers, in some cases without incident, in others causing a major public issue.

But we are not alone in facing these challenges. Beaver management techniques have been established across Europe, where communities are nearly a decade ahead of us in terms of their journey with Eurasian beavers. 

We also have proven expertise here in Britain. There is a standard protocol for beaver management that follows a hierarchy of measures, depending on the situation, all of which benefit from rapid response. They start at simple mesh tree guards to deter unwanted feeding, or a sand-glue paste which renders the tree unpalatable to a curious beaver. Field studies have proven the effectiveness of both methods. 

A common technique for moderating water levels, well established across Europe, is to implement “beaver deceivers”, a simple flow device which is inserted through an opening in the dam to limit the height of the beaver pond and surrounding water level. 

At the other end of the scale is beaver trapping and translocation. It is also necessary to consider lethal control as part of the suite of measures. However, beaver population numbers are currently not at sustainable levels in Britain and we must prioritise the rehoming of any unwanted animals.

Beaver-human conflict would continue to remain unresolved in the absence of an effective management regime. This summer, the government will be launching a consultation on a national English Beaver Strategy, to establish a long-term framework for reintroducing beavers safely and responsibly across our river catchments. 

In support of this, Beaver Trust has convened a collaborative working group on beavers with cross-sector representation to ensure all concerns are heard and discussed. The trust is also instigating beaver management groups alongside new wild beaver populations, offering practical advice and management as well as community leadership. 

Working with landowners and farmers must be the foundation of the consultation process: resourcing and a practical management regime will offer these groups the support they need to coexist with a local beaver population. 

Another perspective on beaver management is to consider the failing state of our national rivers and their readiness to support wildlife. Returning areas of the river bank bordering farmland back to nature is rapidly being recognised as a solution not only to beaver-human conflict, but to heal our ailing water quality, plummeting biodiversity, need for carbon storage and public connection to nature.

Beaver Trust is responding to this by convening a partnership with major environmental NGOs to investigate and propose a programme of river buffer zones along whole river catchments (for that is where beaver impacts will be felt, top to bottom).

The new partnership wants to see a simplified financial reward for systemic outcomes and for buffer zones to become part of future land management. Our river systems and the challenges they face are highly complex and require serious legwork behind the scenes before we present a simplified, systemic solution that supports good environmental decisions. It cannot be a further bolt-on payment. 

Land managers are increasingly asked to support environmental outcomes, so environmental charities are standing by to support this process collaboratively. But it has to be held by government and delivered through national policy, or the opportunity will only add fuel to the agricultural payments fire.

Eva Bishop is Communications Director at Beaver Trust (beavertrust.org).

THE FARMING VIEW

Farming organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about rewilding and the introduction of “lost” species into the British countryside.

While stressing the need to provide biodiversity-rich landscapes, they highlight the importance of food production and 
the practical problems and costs that reintroductions could bring. 

NFU Scotland (NFUS) has dubbed proposals to reintroduce predators such as lynx, wolves or bears as “wholly unacceptable”. In relation to beavers, it is advocating a licensing system allowing lethal control where there is clear damage to land and crops.

“Beavers, in the right areas, can enhance wildlife and conservation. In the wrong areas, they are proven to cause significant and costly agricultural damage,” says NFUS President Martin Kennedy.

NFU Cymru, meanwhile, opposes beaver reintroductions, claiming there has been insufficient discussion about potential management of the species and compensation for farm businesses adversely affected. 

“While beavers are promoted as environmental engineers that would reduce flooding downstream, it has to be noted that they do this by felling trees to create dams that simply cause flooding elsewhere – risking damage to riverbanks, crops and infrastructures such as roads, bridges and houses,” a spokesperson said.

“There are also major concerns about the impacts for freshwater migratory fish such as salmon and sea trout.”

Any plans to release lynx spark swift criticism from the National Sheep Association, which believes the imperative to produce food means that combating climate change and aiding nature recovery should be achieved through farming – not instead of it.

“Whether it’s apex predators or more passive species such as beavers, there is a need to ensure populations can be controlled to allow farming to function effectively,” says Chief Executive Phil Stocker. “For the apex predators like lynx and wolves, there is a very strong case for not seeing these introduced to Britain – we haven’t got the habitat or the habitat connections to support genetically viable populations, and we haven’t got a culture of large-scale natural and unmanaged landscapes. 

“Even if compensation were offered, this will not make sheep mortalities acceptable and, given the general public’s reaction to some of the harrowing images caused by domestic dog attacks, I cannot see how any caused by a wild animal will be accepted,” concludes Stocker.