Guidance

Beavers: how to manage them and when you need a licence

How to manage Eurasian beavers on your land without a licence and when you need a licence in England.

From:
Natural England and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published
2 September 2022
Last updated
19 December 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

Eurasian beavers are protected as a European protected species in England.

It is against the law to:

  • deliberately injure, kill, capture or disturb beavers
  • damage or destroy a beaver breeding site or resting place such as a burrow, lodge or associated dam
  • keep a beaver or parts of a beaver you have taken from the wild
  • transport a beaver
  • sell or exchange, or offer a beaver for sale or exchange

You may need to manage beavers that are present on your land. Certain management activities will be possible without a licence, but some can only be carried out with a licence. This guide helps you decide if you need to apply for a beaver licence from Natural England.

Beaver activities

Beavers can:

  • improve water quality
  • reduce the risk of flooding and drought
  • increase biodiversity
  • create more resilient landscapes to reduce the impact of climate change

They also dig burrows and channels into the banks of waterbodies (for example, a lake, river or stream), fell trees and build lodges and dams, which may cause:

  • flooding to adjacent land
  • injury to livestock
  • damage to crops, property or machinery

Signs of beavers on your land

You could have beavers on your land if you see:

  • trails through vegetation on banks around bodies of water
  • channels leading from the waterway
  • resting places like burrows, lodges or day rests
  • gnawed or felled trees
  • branches, sticks or shrubs that are cut at an angle of about 45 degrees
  • dam building in a watercourse

Look for these signs in places where beavers usually live. This includes:

  • land along a river, stream, lake or man-made waterway
  • existing structures where beavers might build dams, for example, culverts

Burrows, lodges and day rests

Beavers dig tunnels and chambers into the banks of waterbodies. These are called burrows and vary in shape and size but can extend up to 15 metres inland from the bank. A burrow may become part of a beaver lodge.

Lodges are structures that beavers build using sticks and mud. Beavers may create a lodge above the ground and live inside it, or they might use the sticks and mud to form a roof over a tunnel, burrow or chamber below ground. They use lodges and burrows to breed, rest and rear young.

Beavers may also build a food cache out of branches and sticks.

Burrow and lodge entrances are usually underwater and may only be visible if the water is clear or the level has dropped. This means you may not know if there are burrows on your land.

Dams

A beaver dam is a structure built by beavers which can hold back water. Dams are usually made of wood, mud, stones or other materials.

A dam is associated with a burrow or lodge if it is connected to, or directly affects the water levels around a burrow or lodge.

Dams can moderate water flow and sediment loss downstream but can raise water levels and cause flooding upstream.

Channels

Beavers dig channels that fill with water to provide safe access to feeding sites and aid movement through their territory. Channels are usually 40cm to 50cm wide. Beavers also create short channels to enter and exit the water which are usually less than 1m long.

When you need a licence

You must have a licence if you need to:

  • modify or remove a burrow or lodge
  • modify or remove a dam that is associated with a burrow or lodge
  • remove a food cache where it is joined to a lodge
  • cause disturbance that affects a beaver’s ability to survive or breed
  • transport and release a beaver
  • kill, injure or capture a beaver
  • possess a dead beaver or its body parts
  • sell or exchange, or offer for sale or exchange, a beaver

You could get a 6-month prison sentence or an unlimited fine if you are convicted of these offences.

You do not need a licence to modify or remove a dam if it’s less than 2 weeks old or to modify or remove a day rest.

Wildlife licences for managing beaver activity

There are 3 beaver class licences that Natural England can issue for beaver management to:

If these licences do not cover the action you need to take, such as lethal control, you can apply for an individual licence from Natural England.

Contact Natural England to find out more about beaver licences.

Prevent beaver problems without a licence

If beavers could affect your property or business, there are ways you can manage beaver activity without needing a licence from Natural England.

Make a natural space for beavers

If your land includes, or is close to a river, stream or lake you should consider making a natural space for beavers.

Beaver activity usually stays within 10m to 20m of the water’s edge. You could leave the space around the waterway for the beavers to use. This approach may reduce the chance of beavers moving to other areas of your land.

You can plant native species such as aspen and willow in this area. Plant roots add support to the bank structure where beavers burrow and create channels. There is little maintenance after planting, and it helps to reduce agricultural chemical run-off and increases biodiversity.

You should consider all nearby ‘infrastructure’ when making natural space for beavers. Infrastructure can include highways, railways, public utilities and flood risk management.

Install fencing

Fencing is a long-term action to protect your property from beaver activity.

Fences near rivers and streams can increase flood risk, so you may need to get permission from the appropriate risk management authority.

You must not use fencing to trap beavers in a certain area because it is an offence to capture beavers. You should only use fencing to keep beavers out of vulnerable structures or certain areas of your land.

To stop beavers from digging under, climbing over or gnawing through the fence, make sure it:

  • is made of galvanised welded mesh or thick stock net fencing with a mesh size no bigger than 10cm by 10cm
  • is at least 1.2m high above the ground
  • is attached to posts that extend 60cm into the ground which are located on the outside of the fence
  • has the mesh or net buried at least 30cm underground, where possible
  • has 45cm of mesh securely pegged down onto the ground towards the body of water
  • has a 30cm overhang towards the body of water

You may want to seek site-specific advice before installing fencing.

You can apply for a Countryside Stewardship grant to help you pay for fencing where there are permanent crops.

The fence requirements on this page are different to the ones on the grant page. This is because the grant requirements are based on those used for other species. The Rural Payments Agency will update this in due course.

Electric fences

You must take care using electric fencing. Electric fencing can injure and kill beavers and other animals. You should not use electric fencing as a way of managing beavers and never as a permanent structure.

You should only use a temporary electric fence to:

  • protect vulnerable crops for up to 3 months
  • protect property in an emergency for up to 4 weeks while you find a permanent solution

If you use an electric fence, you must:

  • make sure it meets British and European safety standards
  • remove the fence if there is a risk of flooding

To build an effective electric fence for beavers, use:

  • a strained-wire electric fence – using tape instead of plain wire where possible
  • 75cm high posts designed for an electric fence
  • fence posts up to 5m apart – put them closer together on uneven ground
  • 3 electrified parallel tapes or wires that are 15cm to 20cm from the ground and each other
  • an energiser that is battery, solar or mains-powered

The lower fence wire must not touch the ground and should be 15cm to 20cm above ground.

If the wire bridges a worn beaver trail, beavers will try to go under the wire. If you need to place an electric fence across an existing beaver trail, you should put:

  • a post in the middle of the trail
  • the lowest wire as close to the ground as possible without touching it

Use scarers

You can use visual and auditory scarers that use unpredictable sights and sounds to discourage unwanted beaver activity when beavers first move into an area. These include:

  • bright flashing lights
  • devices that make unpredictable noises or movement, for example, windmills or scarecrows with loose material
  • ultrasound devices

You must check the area for other species you could affect, especially protected species such as bats, otters and migratory fish, before you use a scarer.

You must take care if you use scarers. If they disturb beavers or other protected species, for example in a way that reduces their ability to survive or breed, you could be breaking the law.

You should only use scarers for a short period of time.  Animals can quickly become used to them. You should therefore remove the scarer as soon as it stops working.

Protect trees from beavers without a licence

Beavers use trees as food and building materials for lodges and dams.

You should not remove trees to prevent beaver activity because it:

  • usually does not work because beavers also eat other plants and shrubs
  • is expensive
  • can make banks of waterbodies more likely to collapse

Install tree guards

Use tree guards to protect them from beavers. To make them effective, you should:

  • install them at the base of the tree
  • use galvanised welded mesh
  • make them at least 1m high
  • use a maximum mesh size of 2.5cm by 5cm
  • allow at least 15cm between the trunk and the mesh for trees to grow
  • if necessary, cover any exposed roots

You can apply for a Countryside Stewardship grant to help you pay for tree guards.

The tree guard requirements on this page are different to the ones on the grant page. This is because the grant requirements are based on those used for other species. The Rural Payments Agency will update this in due course.

Use textured tree paint

Use this method if you cannot use tree guards.

You can protect vulnerable trees by coating the tree trunks with a mix of sand or grit and a non-toxic, weather-proof adhesive liquid. Mix 140g of sand with each litre of liquid to make a thick, sandpaper consistency to apply to the tree.

The coating must not contain fungicides or any other chemical that could harm the environment. Check the information on the product specification sheet.

To make sure the textured coating is effective, you should:

  • apply it to the trunk and buttress of the tree from the base to at least 1.2m up
  • monitor the applications, you might need to reapply the paint each year

You must not apply textured coating if the tree is close to a body of water and there is a risk of contamination.

Manage trees felled by beavers

You can remove trees that beavers have felled without a licence, but this may increase the chance of beavers felling more trees for food and building materials.

Continue to manage your land without a licence

You can continue to carry out normal land management activities like ploughing and cultivating if you have beavers on your land.

You must not damage or destroy a burrow, lodge or a dam associated with a burrow or lodge while carrying out land management activities.

Before you use heavy machinery near beaver structures, check your land for:

  • felled trees or stumps hidden in the vegetation
  • lodges that could suggest there are burrows below ground that could make the ground unstable
  • partially collapsed burrows

Place flags 5m from beaver activity or structures to help you spot hazards and protect your machinery from damage. Avoid using heavy machinery or deep ploughing within 10m of a watercourse where there might be beavers, where possible.

Modify or remove a beaver dam without a licence

You can modify or remove a dam without a licence if:

  • beavers have been building the dam for less than 2 weeks
  • the dam is over 2 weeks old and you are certain it is not associated with a burrow or lodge

If a dam is over 2 weeks old, it may not be possible to tell if a burrow or lodge will be affected by removing the dam. This is because the entrances to these structures may only be visible where the water is clear. If you are not certain, you should get expert advice or apply for a licence.

If you need to remove a dam to prevent damage, make sure you completely remove it, including all foundation sediment and stones, right back to the stream bed. You should be able to remove a new beaver dam with hand tools, such as a rake or pitchfork with curved prongs. If hand tools are not appropriate, you can use machinery.

You should place any dam material you remove on the bank away from the water.

You might need to repeat the removal if beavers start to rebuild the dam.

Natural destruction of beaver dams

If heavy rainfall destroys a dam, leave the dam material in the water if it is not causing damage or a hazard to river users or infrastructure. It is good for the environment and a natural part of river systems.

If the dam material causes a flood risk, you should remove it to the bank away from the water to reduce the risk, if possible.

Remove inactive burrows without a licence

You can only remove a beaver burrow without a licence if you are sure that beavers are no longer using it.

Before you can remove an inactive burrow, you must:

  • check if the burrow is in use by beavers
  • take photo and video evidence of your findings
  • check if other protected species are using it, such as otters

If you see any signs of current beaver activity, you will need a licence to remove the burrow.

If you think an otter is using the burrow or lodge, it is then protected as an otter holt and you will need to apply for a mitigation licence to remove it.

How to recognise an inactive burrow

If the roof has collapsed completely, exposing all the tunnels and chambers, beavers are unlikely to be using the burrow.

If only part of the roof has collapsed, beavers could still be using other chambers in the burrow. Beavers may repair a partial collapse.

Beavers or other protected species are probably still using the burrow if you see:

  • recent food fragments
  • fresh bedding
  • recent tracks or
  • fresh digging

Contact Natural England if you are not sure if the burrow is inactive.

How to remove an inactive burrow

You can remove an inactive burrow by infilling it. Use materials that are not harmful to beavers or the local environment such as stone or sandbags with dry cement or aggregate mix. After you have infilled an inactive burrow, you can plant fast-growing shrubs and lay coir matting in the area to help to reinforce the bank.

To prevent beavers from re-opening the burrow, you could also peg galvanised weldmesh or heavy-duty chain-link netting over the site. Any such weldmesh or netting should extend at least 2m either side of the original burrow entrance.

Fill in beaver channels without a licence

You can infill beaver channels without a licence if infilling them will not affect a burrow or lodge.

You should only infill beaver channels if the channels increase the risk of bank erosion or pose a risk to livestock or machinery.

You will need to monitor the water levels if a dam supports the channel you need to infill.

How to fill in channels

You should infill and protect the channel from further beaver activity, and make sure the infill material does not wash into the river or waterway.

You should:

  • start your infill on the land and work down the channel towards the water
  • infill channels with materials from the site, rocks or sandbags
  • lay biodegradable coir matting on the area and use wooden stakes to secure it

You should let natural plant growth cover the spot. If there are invasive non-native species nearby, you should sow a native seed mix over the area instead.

For a load-bearing repair, you can use hard materials, such as weld mesh, to make it stronger.

You can:

  • weave the mesh into the channel as you are infilling it, extending it across the channel
  • lay it over the profiled bank as you sow the seeds (you should still use the coir matting)

You must have a permit from the appropriate risk management authority if you are carrying out certain activities in or near a body of water.

Check if your activity is regulated.

Allow for fish passage

Dams can sometimes be a barrier to migratory fish. Leaving a beaver dam in place may push water around the sides of the dam which can create new passage routes for fish. You should leave the dam in place, if possible.

Dams that might be associated with a burrow or lodge are more likely to restrict fish passage.

Only consider modifying the dam if fish:

  • need to pass the dam to spawn or complete their lifecycle
  • cannot pass over the dam under the site flow conditions
  • cannot pass around the dam because there is no space for water to flow around the dam
  • cannot pass under or through the dam

The law protects salmon and trout migration routes from obstruction. This only applies to human-made structures and not beaver dams. If your actions to manage beaver activity cause an obstruction to fish migration, you will need to find a way to allow fish to pass the structure.

Get permission to work in vulnerable or protected areas

You might need to get permission or a permit to work in certain protected or vulnerable areas.

Before you start work, you should follow guidance in:

Watercourses and bodies of water

You must have a permit from the appropriate risk management authority if you are carrying out certain activities in or near a body of water.

Check if your activity is regulated.

Find out how to get permission from the relevant flood risk management authority.

Protected sites

If your land is part of a protected site, you may need to get separate consent from Natural England before you can carry out work to manage beavers.

How to apply for site of special scientific interest (SSSI) consent from Natural England.

If the SSSI is also a European site, Natural England will complete a habitats regulations assessment before they give consent. This makes sure there will be no negative effects on the site.

Get help

There is help and advice available if you have questions about managing beavers on your land or would like advice from an expert.

Natural England

Call Natural England’s enquiry line if you have questions about beaver activity on your land. They can direct you to the most appropriate advice.

Phone: 0300 060 3900

Email: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk

Beaver experts

There may be a beaver management group, other experts or a local beaver officer in your area who can help you with beavers on your land. They may be able to:

  • help you to assess beaver activity
  • carry out beaver activity assessments for you
  • give advice on whether you need to intervene with the beaver activity
  • help you choose the most appropriate and effective management actions

Contact Natural England to find out if you have a beaver management group or other experts in your area.

Beaver Management website 

Visit the Beaver Management website for: 

  • contact information for local beaver management groups 
  • further examples of techniques for mitigating beaver activity – you may need to get an environmental permit before you use these techniques  

This website may not be accessible to users of assistive technology.

Published 2 September 2022
Last updated 19 December 2023 + show all updates

  1. Added information about the Beaver Management website.

  2. Updated the first paragraph, removed reference rules coming in to force from 1 October 2022 and changed it from the future to present tense.

  3. First published.

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