In September 2024 the Welsh Government confirmed its plans to reintroduce beavers, a species extinct in Wales since the days of Owain Glyndŵr and the Wars of the Roses almost 600 years ago. At the beginning of this month, the Deputy First Minister gave an update on the government’s plans. This includes the intention to amend the legislative framework to create protections for European beavers in Wales, including recognising beavers as a native species and providing them with legal protection as European Protected Species. Moving forward with these proposed changes will give beavers the same level of legislative recognition and protection as found in England and Scotland.

Though the Welsh Government has said that it recognises the concerns of farmers and rural communities towards this reintroduction, nevertheless the government has decided to press ahead despite NFU Cymru and other organisations’ genuine, evidence-based opposition. Once more, both Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have acknowledged that beaver activity can cause negative consequences for local communities and the rural economy, such as flooding and irreparable damage to riverbanks. With farmers managing over 80% of land in Wales, it is clear that they, and the wider agricultural chain, will be those most impacted by the reintroduction of beavers.

Earlier this year, in response to the government’s ask for engagement on the proposals, NFU Cymru’s Rural Affairs Board met to review evidence and the lived experience of colleagues farming in Scotland before considering the organisation’s opposition. A key concern is that the proposal to give beavers protected status effectively endorses illegal releases of beavers that have already taken place in Wales, particularly when protected status will significantly constrain the development of suitable measures to manage beavers because of the licensing regime. More widely, beavers can damage arable land, cause fields to cave in over beaver lodges, and reduce grazing, all of which are highly localised and place high costs on individual businesses and communities.

NFU Cymru continues to believe that this move towards the reintroduction of beavers is highly premature, irresponsible if not fully considered, and above all a risky course of action to take. When farmers are increasingly asked to take part in environmental actions, to introduce such a policy which compromises many of these very asks risks undermining the sector’s engagement in the government’s rural proposals.