Animals

Beavers Do It Better

It could hold the key to combating soil erosion and polluted waterways, as well as help prevent flooding in rainy places such as Great Britain.

Enter the Beaver, nature’s engineer.

Considered the second largest rodent in the world, Beavers are uniquely suited for the job. But there was one problem: they’d been extinct in the U.K. for over 400 years.

In 2015, The Devon Wildlife Trust released a pair of Eurasian beavers into the River Devon as part of a 5-year project.

Their environmental impact was inspiring. The animals created a vast network of channels, pools, and dams that improved the land’s ability to hold water and mitigate soil erosion.

Floods were reduced downstream and the water leaving the beaver wet-land was found to be three times cleaner than the water entering it, im-proving the fish population and drawing in even more wildlife.

Now other countries in Europe are jumping on board, bringing Slow Water and a nearly extinct animal back to the landscape.

Once again, Mother nature proves to have all the answers, we just have to learn to keep listening to her.