Beavers, Drought & The River Otter in Devon 🌱 Rewilding Britain

#rewildingbritain #rewildingbeavers #beaversanddrought #beaversriverotter #riverotterdrought

The UK has had its worst drought in a long time, and while we have grown accustomed to seeing patchwork yellow fields and gardens everywhere, a small valley where a tributary flows into the River Otter is looking healthy and lush.

Beavers deal with floods by constructing dams across streams, establishing new ponds, and laying channels across the valley floor. When it rains heavily, the beaver pulls back significant amounts of water, which slows the flow and stores water in the landscape. The same slowing effect keeps rivers and aquatic life alive during a drought. They aid in preserving the moisture of the ground around the stream. There are now numerous small streams crisscrossing the terrain where there was previously no water. This is because the beavers reconnected the stream's to the flood plain. Now, ponds are building up behind the dams, building up water reserves in the land.
The current drought highlights the need for improved water management in Britain during flood and drought extremes. According to Brazier, we need to reconsider how we use many of our farmed flood plains if we want to be able to better withstand major floods and droughts. In the River Otter, where at least 100 beavers now roam wild, their existence demonstrates our need for these animals and rewilding. Of course it does not provide all the answers but it's more than a good start.
Scraps

Please subscribe if you have enjoyed the video :).

Follow me on social media:

Please Read:

Attributions

Beaver footage: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Vimeo: Bobor vodný - Castor fiber (view archived source)

[baynesstreetblues]

An Australian viewer here (ex-Devonian). Congratulations for putting together this short, beautifully produced clip. Fantastic to hear of beaver numbers reaching 100 in the River Otter. Perhaps it should be re-named!

[carlpeberdy]

The beaver reintroduction has been very inspiring, I hadn't considered the positive impact on drought conditions though - fantastic stuff. Nice to see your stuff on youtube again.

[davesgreenliving]

Another quality vid and relevant to the changing conditions we are facing. It's a shame that what you are presenting here has to be considered a 'radical' idea. Just allow the animals in the environment to teach us and lead our decision making by considering first how we can share the environment and mutually benefit.
Great to see you back!

[carolinejayes]

All praise the beaver, we need them rewilding in suitable areas creating new habitats for birds, insects, animals, slow heavy rainfall, filter water.prevent droughts, slow or stop flooding.!😀

[paladintrueknight]

Ecological restoration is great, but it should be paired with land conservation (buying the land) to reach the ideal. Imagine buying land and "re-wilding" it to the Nth degree!