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What impact will the beavers have in the forest in Knapdale?
This will be an important part of the trial. It is important to note that tree species and beavers have coexisted for millennia.
Beavers do not eradicate waterside woodland but feed selectively on available trees, invariably leading to useful coppicing and natural restructuring of the woodland habitat. Certainly they fell trees and some local flooding may affect riparian trees, and create valuable patches of more open woodland and valuable wetland woodland. The extent of the impact will depend on topography, hydrology, vegetation and population size.
Any drowned trees provide dead standing timber, important habitat for other wildlife such as woodpeckers, various beetles and fungi.
The trial and the conservation status of Knapdale
The trial site at Knapdale has been notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is part of a wider Special Area of Conservation put forward for its oak woodland, freshwater loch, marsh fritillary butterfly and otter interests. The trial requires an “appropriate assessment” in terms of the European Habitats Directive. What this means is that a consideration of the effects of beavers at Knapdale on the Special Area of Conservation qualifying interests must be undertaken.
The “appropriate assessment” conducted for the earlier licence application is currently being reviewed; however, at this stage there is nothing to suggest that there will be any adverse impact on the site integrity because of the trial reintroduction. To provide further reassurance, particularly regarding cumulative impacts, a monitoring programme will form an integral part of the trial against baselines established before the trial. The proposed trial would include adequate safeguards (assessed by Scottish Natural Heritage) for the natural heritage of the area.