Credit: David Parkyn
Natural flood management
Beavers are engineers of entire ecosystems. With paddled tails and iron-enriched teeth, beavers have the tools to restore and maintain important wetland habitats, helping us to tackle climate change and provide a habitat that supports lots of wildlife.
Essex Wildlife Trust has been supporting Spains Hall Estate, Finchingfield, for the past three years since their release of a pair of Eurasian beavers to a secure beaver enclosure.
Credit: David Parkyn
Slow the flow for Finchingfield
Residents of Finchingfield village in Braintree have been used to the flooding conditions for decades. After severe flooding in the village in 2012 and 2014, Spains Hall Estate launched a new project, in conjunction with Essex Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust.
Finchingfield flood in 1958 - Credit: Simon Linsell-Clark
Beavers at Spains Hall Estate
At Spains Hall Estate, what once was dry woodland, with only a stream running through that would stop flowing during parts of the year, is now transformed. The beavers have created complex wetland made up of a series of dams, pools and canals, holding water on-site during floods and releasing it slowly during dry periods. Rapid changes to the habitat were made in the first couple of years, and now we are starting to see more gradual changes as the wetland is now more established.
Large dam holding water created entirely by the beavers
Once dry woodland, this area is now a vast expanse of pools and wetland.
Essex Wildlife Trust team surveying changes to habitat.
Benefits of beavers
The transformation of the landscape in the beaver enclosure has had dramatic effects, storing huge quantities of water in a series of large pools over winter and reducing flood risk for homes downstream. In the summer, large quantities of water stored below ground are gradually released to allow the beaver stream to flow continually, even in times of drought. This water security, along with the filtering effects of the series of dams, has led to increased biodiversity with water shrews, freshwater shrimp and kingfishers back on site and cleaner water flowing downstream.
Our team regularly track the changes to this habitat, and our recent visit demonstrated the immense capabilities of these mammals. Beavers are the engineers of the wildlife world and are always hard at work. Now with four kits, it is fantastic to visit this site and see them thriving.
Video credit: Spains Hall Estate
Archie Ruggles-Brise, Manager of Spains Hall Estate, says:
“We are the proud home of the first beavers to return to Essex for over 400 years. As a working farming estate, we care deeply about our environment, woodlands and the wildlife we provide a home for. Working with Essex Wildlife Trust means we can track the beavers and their management of our site, to demonstrate how effective they are as a nature-based solution.”
Natalie Singleton, our River Catchment Officer, says:
“Beavers are part of our native wildlife and have been missing from our landscapes for more than 400 years. In that time, we have done untold damage to our rivers and wetlands. The re-introduction of beavers would provide a natural solution to redress the balance and provide a host of ecosystem services such as natural flood management and mitigating climate change."