Why the battle for beavers will test DEFRA on wildlife conservation

摘要

Angling groups and conservationists have locked horns over beaver reintroductions in what could be a key test of the government’s commitment to restoring Britain’s wildlife. The issue came to a head in May when a consortium including the Angling Trust and Salmon and Trout Conservation accused the recently formed Beaver Trust of pressurising DEFRA to rush decisions to restore beavers to multiple sites in England. Derek Gow, one of the UK’s leading advocates for bringing back beavers, reacted with fury to the intervention, saying the organisations were ignoring the bulk of scientific evidence that shows this once-native species would be highly beneficial to UK rivers and wetlands, for the sake of their own interests.