Wildlife trust considers beaver rewilding project

A wildlife trust is seeking donations as it looks to use beavers to transform habitats in Surrey.

Surrey Wildlife Trust is considering a licence to release beavers into the county after they were hunted to extinction about 400 years ago.

The trust said that releasing beavers into the wild would help to create ponds, ditches and marshes, which would in turn alleviate flood risks and help native plants and animals.

Adam Bolton, Surrey Wildlife Trust conservation manager, said: "We're asking people to help us put nature's top engineers back at the heart of our landscapes, to help shape them for the better."

He added: "Given the essential services that nature provides, from flood prevention to carbon sequestration to better health and wellbeing, that would be something for everyone to celebrate."

Other benefits from reintroducing beavers into the wild include creating "carbon sinks" in wetlands, which reduce the impact of climate change, and preventing wildfires.

As well as beavers, the wildlife trust is looking at reintroducing other species including large marshland grasshoppers and red deer to Surrey.

Donations to the trust would support a feasibility study into the reintroduction of beavers and an assessment of other habitat engineering options.

From Tuesday until 29 April donations will be match-funded up to £50,000 by the Green Match Fund, the trust added.

The trust claimed that eight beavers in Czech Republic had saved taxpayers about €1 million by flooding a former army training site where a long-delayed dam was planned.

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