For any of you who may remember or have heard about it, this article is not about the 1957-1963 American sitcom, Leave it to Beaver. It is about the real animal, the beaver. The other day I came across an article about how re-introducing beavers to the countryside in England’s Cornwall region (Southwest of England) has helped the nature recover in that region. As the article says, “From flood defence to strengthening biodiversity, the ecological benefits of rewilding with beavers are beyond doubt.”
The article mentions that beavers in England became extinct about 400 years ago, as humans hunted them for their meat, fur and salicylic acid in their glands. In 2017, however, a certain Chris Jones introduced 2 beavers in the area (he runs an organic farm – Woodland Valley Farm). Impressed by the results, he co founded the Beaver Trust in 2019, and the rest is history. As he mentions, “The change is dramatic in just four years,” he says. “They engineer the landscape in a way that reduces flooding, helps store water for drought, and boosts wildlife – and wetlands are great carbon sinks.”
The article goes on, “With the UK government having spent over £2.6 billion on flood defenses between 2015 and 2021, beaver enthusiasts claim they could help at a fraction of the cost”. This must be good news to Cop26 participants who were trying to figure out if they should write “phase out” or “phase down” for coal and a host of other messages of what in French we call “langue de bois” (otherwise known as political blabla). This is especially good news to countries who would like to continue their polluting, while pretending they are doing something for the planet. Just introduce beavers to the countryside and watch the landscape, wetlands and the carbon in the air disappear from the “danger list”!
(*)The subject and the citations have been taken from an article by The Guardian
Paris, November 18, 2021,
Zeejay