First Beavers in Bedfordshire in over 400 years

For the first time in over 400 years, beavers are back in Bedfordshire and what a better day to celebrate it than the #InternationalBeaverDay ! A family of Eurasian beavers was successfully released at Southill Estate, marking a historic milestone for nature recovery in one of England's driest counties and the next chapter in a long-term commitment by estate owner Charles Whitbread to manage land differently, creating space for nature alongside productive farming and land management. None of this would have been possible without Southill estate's dedicated team and brilliant partners who made it happen. Beaver Trust led on the licence application, co-designed the release pond and coordinated the safe transfer of animals to site. Wildwood Trust rehabilitated and prepared the adult female for independent living. Beavers are one of nature's most powerful forces for landscape recovery. In a country that has lost so much of its wetland, these extraordinary animals rebuild what centuries of drainage have destroyed, slowing water, creating rich mosaics of habitat, sequestering carbon and triggering a cascade of returning species that no amount of human management could replicate at the same scale or cost. The biodiversity uplift at Southill is being monitored and quantified by Restore, with outcomes available through Biodiversity Net Gain credits for developers and 30x30 Restore Units for businesses ready to invest in real, landscape-scale nature recovery. Hear more about the journey in the video below. 🎥 #Rewilding #Beavers #Nature #SpeciesReintroduction #Environment #EcosystemEngineers