Beaver reintroduction and management in England
Applies to England
Download the full outcome
Detail of outcome
Recognising the range of responses and feedback received on the questions in this consultation related to releases of beaver and reintroductions, we will continue to undertake further work with Natural England to develop our approach to reintroductions in England. We will publish further information on this, including on criteria for wild releases, in due course.
To support the change in the legal protection of beaver, coming into force on the 1 October 2022, Defra and Natural England have published guidance on best practice management and licensing.
Detail of feedback received
We received 3,198 responses to this consultation.
Original consultation
Consultation description
We want to know what you think about our proposed approach to beaver reintroduction and management in England.
Our proposals would:
- allow releases into the wild where licence applications show clear benefits and where risks of negative impacts are avoided, mitigated for, or managed
- allow existing wild-living beaver populations to remain
- continue to allow releases into enclosures, with licence criteria tightened to focus on the benefits of the project
We also want to know what management and support you think should be available to those managing beavers.
Last updated 2 September 2022 + show all updates
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Added summary of responses and government response.
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Updated to explain we received 3,198 responses to this consultation. Publication of our summary of responses has been delayed and we expect to publish this in spring 2022.
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First published.