Statutory guidance

Beavers: licence to modify or remove dams and damaged burrows (CL52)

Register for a licence to modify or remove Eurasian beaver dams or damaged burrows outside their breeding season.

• From: Natural England and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 2 September 2022
• Last updated: 1 September 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 1 September 2026

     Updated the attachment ‘Licence to modify or remove beaver dams and damaged burrows (CL52)’. Natural England will contact you with the outcomes of your registration within 30 working days for normal registrations, rather than 15 working days. Under licence condition 1, added that the registered person must maintain their expertise at an appropriate level to act under this licence, including attending a refresher training course every 3 years since attending the Natural England accredited CL52 training course. Under condition 2, added additional advice to clarify when the licence can and cannot be used for preserving public health and safety. Under condition 5, added additional advice about: fish migration and spawning grounds, how to remove a beaver dam, and waste materials and non-native invasive species handling.

  2. 1 January 2024

     There is an update to this licence for 1 January 2024.

  3. 11 August 2023

     Licence and forms amended to include repairing or removing a damaged beaver burrow as an action under this licence. Additionally, if you want to register as an authorised person under CL52, you must attend a Natural England accredited training course. Experience with dams and damaged burrows is no longer part of the registration process.

  4. 2 September 2022

     First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Licence to modify or remove beaver dams and damaged burrows (CL52)

HTML

Apply for registration under beaver licence CL52

MS Word Document, 65 KB

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Activity record for beaver licence CL52

MS Word Document, 41.4 KB

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Annual report for beaver licence CL52

MS Word Document, 36.7 KB

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Details

This licence is for an authorised person who manages land or waterbodies to modify or remove dams or damaged burrows between 1 September and 28 February when beavers are not breeding.

You need to register and be approved as an authorised person to use this licence.

Find out how to manage beavers without a licence and when you need a licence.

How to register

Register by completing the form on this page.

You cannot act under this licence until you have written confirmation from Natural England that you are an authorised person.

How to record activity

Use an activity record form to record each licensed activity you carry out under beaver licence CL52.

Submit a completed annual report form with all your activity records by 31 March each year.

Get help

If you have any questions about beaver licensing, contact Natural England.

Email: wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk.