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Category Archives: Beavers
It’s just not cricket: reactionary forces gather to challenge beavers’ right to stay where they belong.
In a rare piece of good news for the south-west’s environment, the government recently confirmed that beavers would be allowed to stay on the River Otter in Devon. Beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain about 400 years ago. Hunters … Continue reading
Posted in angling, Beavers, Natural England, NFU
Tagged Angling Trust, beavers, Cricket Bats, devon, National Farmers' Union, Natural England
7 Comments
Squirrels, Pheasants and Beavers: the confusing world of animal releases
Scotland is once again ahead of the game (or at least ahead of England) as far as legal protection for wildlife is concerned. Scottish Environment Minister, Roseanna Cunningham, announced recently that Beavers would be given the strict protection afforded … Continue reading
Posted in Beavers, grey squirrel, pheasants, red squirrel
Tagged Beaver, grey squirrel, introductions, pheasants
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Put a Beaver in your River
Summer, nearly six years ago, and I was doing a lot of walking. That day, Chesil beach, with the long thin lake of the Fleet behind, was sunny and I found myself thoughtlessly kicking a large lump of peat. Peat? … Continue reading
Free the Beaver: Michael Gove officially endorses legal #Beaver releases into the English Countryside
Is there any comedy value to be extracted from the fact that on the day the Brexiteers capitulated (or were outmanoeuvred) on membership of the Single Market, leading Brexist Michael Gove chose to announce that Beavers would be released in … Continue reading
Beavers – cute and cuddly?
Just in case anyone thought Beavers were cute and cuddly, this news piece from Canada should make you think again. Imagine the scenes in Ottery St Mary…..
Invasive Plants caused muddled thinking
The BBC picked up a story about “invasive plants” yesterday, but didn’t do a very good job of conveying its messages. The paper just published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is from Chris Thomas’ group at … Continue reading
Beavers: Common Sense may have broken out at Defra
The Beavers of the River Otter in Devon have been under threat of being “rehomed” in a zoo, thanks to pressure from The Angling Trust (no beavers do not eat fish). This was partly due to paranoia that the beavers … Continue reading
Posted in angling, badgers, Beavers, bees, Defra, Liz Truss, Owen Paterson
Tagged badgers, beavers, Bees, Liz Truss, Owen Paterson
3 Comments
How the Beaver got its name.
Following saturday’s blog on Beavers, I was curious to know how the Beaver got its name. Apparently it has a very long history. A long extinct language has been reconstructed from existing languages, called Proto Indo European. This language is … Continue reading
Angling Trust calls for Beavers to be shot: Defra Evicts Beavers from Otter
As some of you may know a Beaver family has been spotted on the River Otter in East Devon. A lone Beaver was seen last Summer, and this year, it appears that there is a family. How did that happen? … Continue reading
Posted in angling, Beavers
Tagged beavers, Martin Salter, River Otter, The Angling Trust
25 Comments
Conservation needs Change
This a continuation of the series of blogs stimulated by the re-wilding and conservation debate at the Linnean Society on Wednesday. I looked at how people’s relationship with nature has evolved to the point now where we can more or … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, animism, Beavers, biodiversity, Common Agricultural Policy, conservation, ecosystem services, environmental policy, European environment policy, farming, Floodplains, Forestry, Forestry Commission, greenspace, housing, management, neoliberalism, NFU, Owen Paterson, public goods, public land, regulatory reform, semi-natural
Tagged Agriculture, biodiversity, Britain, common agricultural policy, Conservation, ecosystem services, England, George Monbiot, greenspace, Inheritance tax, land reform, Mark Avery, re-wilding, Semi-Natural
7 Comments
a new nature blog 