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Why are Beavers Ecosystem Engineers?

Why are beavers ecosystem engineers?

Beavers are some of the world’s most skilled ecosystem engineers, with an incredible ability to create new wetlands, restore native woodland, and improve habitats for a wide range of species. They are a ‘keystone’ species of wetland habitats, meaning that are wide array of other species, from fish and frogs; to insects and birds, are impacted by their presence in the ecosystem. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/06/englands-first-wild-beavers-for-400-years-allowed-to-live-on-river-otter">In August 2020</a>, the first beavers to live in England for centuries were given official permission by the government to remain in their home in Devon after a five-year reintroduction trial. This was the first legally sanctioned reintroduction of an extinct native mammal to England. 
Beavers were once native to the UK, and were widespread across the whole of Europe. However they were <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/saving-species/beavers">hunted to extinction</a> in the UK in the early 1500s and by the end of the 19th century only a few groups remained in Europe. This is because they were good to eat, easy to catch, and they had dense, soft fur that was great for making clothes and hats. In addition, beaver glands contain salicylic acid from their willow diet, which was once prized as a medical cure-all. A single beaver gland could be the same as an <a href="https://beavertrust.org/index.php/beavers-create-healthy-rivers-for-wildlife-and-people/#beaverbasics">entire year’s wages</a> for a medieval worker. 
Beavers used to be an integral part of our landscape, however they were pushed to extinction by human activity. With the loss of a species comes the loss of balance within the ecosystem, ultimately resulting in a more vulnerable, less resilient, environment. As climate change brings more extreme weather, our river systems have become more restricted and we are facing a biodiversity crisis. In recent years the value of beavers as ecosystem engineers, and as a potential solution to some of our problems, has been recognised, and they have been brought back from the brink with reintroduction schemes in <a href="https://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/our-conservation-work/on-land/cornwall-beaver-project">27 European countries.</a>

Beavers are natural ecosystem engineers. They change the habitats that they live in by digging canal systems, damming water courses, and coppicing trees and shrubs. This creates diverse wetland habitats that bring enormous benefits to other species, such as otters, water shrews, water voles, birds, dragonflies, and breeding fish. They have an extraordinary ability to restore degraded habitats, transforming small insignificant streams into cascading mosaics of dams, pools and wetlands. These habitats: 
Alleviate flooding 
By creating dams, channels and wetland habitats, beavers increase the capacity of the land to store water and to produce a more consistent outflow below their dams. These habitats hold back water and release it more slowly after storms or heavy rain, reducing the height of flood peaks. Water being released more slowly also improves low flows during dry periods as water leaking from the dams recharges dry streams, improving water availability during times of drought. 
Boost biodiversity
Beavers create diverse wetland habitats that provide a home for a wide range of wildlife. They also fell trees and bushes, which diversifies the surrounding habitat and, as the trees start to grow back, creates areas of mixed-height, mixed-age vegetation, which is brilliant for encouraging a wide range of species to live there.
Improve water quality 
Beaver dams slow and filter water, causing sediment and nutrients to be deposited in ponds. This improves the quality of water flowing from sites where beavers are present. 
Engage the Community 
People are fascinated by beavers. The presence of beavers in an area provides an opportunity for people to engage with wildlife and conservation efforts, as well as creating a market for nature tourism in some places.

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The capabilities and benefits that beavers bring to local areas have led to the instigation of new projects over the past 10 years to encourage the return of beavers to specific enclosed sites in the UK including Devon, Cornwall and Scotland.

The first beaver reintroduction trial in the UK took place in Scotland. <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In 2009, the Scottish Wildlife Trust</a> released the first wild beavers for over 400 years, in Knapdale Forest, Argyll. Beavers temporarily increased the water storage in the larger lochs. This caused the elevation and stabilisation of water levels in small lochs which reduced the impact of flooding downstream. The most striking effect was seen in a small pond, Dubh loch, in which a dam caused a <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rise in water level of 1.1m</a>, reducing the rate of water flow out of the pond and alleviating flooding of the local area. The beavers also greatly increased the habitat diversity of the site, providing more niches for different species.  
The findings of this project were so successful that they persuaded the Scottish Government to allow beavers to remain, and commit to granting the species a legal protected status. In October 2017, a three-year reinforcement project began, with the release of three more beavers into Knapdale Forest and further releases in spring 2018.

<a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">In 2011, the Devon Wildlife Trust</a> introduced one beaver family group to a 3-hectare enclosed area of land in West Devon. They are working with the University of Exeter to monitor the effects of beavers on the habitats, and so far have found that: 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The habitats created store a massive<a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf"> 56 litres of water per m2</a> of land. This has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of flooding downstream. Beavers have constructed 13 dams within the area of the project, meaning that the land will now hold up to <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">one million extra litres of water</a>.</li>
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<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">During storms and heavy rainfall, peak flows were, on average, <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">30% lower</a> leaving the site than entering. </li>
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<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">During storm events each litre of surface water leaving the site had <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">three times less sediment</a> than the water entering the site.</li>
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The diversity of both plants and invertebrates increased, with the number of beetle species more than tripling since the beavers were introduced. This increase in prey has led to more species of bats being recorded, including rare species such as <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/barbastelle-bat">Barbastelle bats</a>.

<a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">In June 2017,</a> two beavers were released into a 5-acre area of plantation woodland along Nankilly water, a stream at Woodland Valley Farm, near Ladock. The Nina Constable Media documentary ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeOmBbLwPm4">Cornwall beaver project: the story so far</a>’ shows the phenomenal impact these beavers have already had. Data pre-beavers and post-beavers shows that just eight weeks after being introduced to the site, the beavers constructed four dams, the water level of the main pond rose by 70cm, and the flow gauge downstream of the site recorded a reduction in peak flow. This meant that the beaver dams were slowing down the flow of water through the site after heavy rainfall. 
The landscape is still evolving as new dams are constructed and existing ones are extended, holding water and slowing down the flow. Where it once took 15 minutes for water to flow through the site; it now takes an hour. There is great public support for this project: weekly ‘beaver watches’ help people to engage with the wildlife and raise funds, <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">over 1000 people</a> have visited the site so far, and the farm has seen increased bookings for residential stays by schools, colleges and universities.

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Despite this myriad of benefits, beaver reintroductions can be met with resistance. There are sometimes concerns from farmers and fishermen about the impact that beavers will have on their livelihoods. Some of these concerns are valid, but if they are addressed with proper management strategies, they don’t need to cause an issue.  
Most schemes across the UK are in infancy, but in Bavaria beavers were reintroduced in the 1960s and are now having impacts on a large scale. In<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Mmjm22GiY"> ‘Beavers without borders: a short documentary’</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C211b0nTwro&amp;t=1s">‘Living with beavers’</a>, both documentaries by Nina Constable, they looked to these trials in Bavaria to see what impacts beavers are capable of, and how humans have managed any negative effects. When beavers were first introduced to the area, their benefits quickly became clear and biodiversity flourished, with more dragonflies, fish and amphibians recorded, and even sightings of the rare black stork. 
However as the beaver populations grew, they started to move out of the rivers and into the agricultural lands. They inflicted small amounts of damage on fields, eating crops and flooding small areas and creating burrows which damaged farm machinery. There started to be some resistance against the beaver populations and in <a href="https://www.nature.scot/sites/default/files/2017-07/Publication%202015%20-%20SNH%20Commissioned%20Report%20812%20-%20Managing%20wild%20Eurasian%20beavers%20a%20review%20of%20European%20management%20practices%20with%20consideration%20for%20Scottish%20application.pdf">1996 </a>management strategies were devised to address these concerns. 
Farmers now get compensation for any damage and beavers can be caught or controlled if they are in the wrong place. They have also set up ‘set-asides’ in creeks in many areas, an area 5-10m to the right and left of the creek that is left for the beavers and nature to work, and have human land use 20m away. There is also a network of volunteer beaver consultants that give free advice to people who live near beavers or have beavers on their land. 
In the UK we can learn from these projects, and implement management strategies from the start. It’s important to listen and address people’s concerns, so that communities can support these necessary projects. The problems can be addressed and overcome, but the benefits of beavers cannot be imitated. Some of the management options that we have available to address any conflicts include: 
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<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Flow devices – This involves putting a pipe through the dam which allows you to regulate the water level behind it.  </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Protecting trees- either put a mesh guard around the tree or paint a special paint substance on it which beavers don’t like.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Compensation and funding – providing compensation for damage, or funding to come up with innovative strategies such as building clay banks to redirect water away from farmers&#8217; fields. </li>
</ul>
Another key area of concern is how beaver introductions affect fish populations, with some people worrying that beaver dams create barriers for migrating fish such as salmon and trout. However these concerns are often unfounded.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Mmjm22GiY"> 70% of the world’s atlantic salmon</a> spawn in Norway, and of their top 10 salmon rivers, seven of them have beavers. Beavers do change the landscape considerably so they can have significant impacts on fish populations. However an <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00421.x">independent review</a> of the interaction between beaver activity and freshwater fisheries found that benefits were cited more frequently than costs, and the majority of experts consider beavers to have an overall positive impact on fish populations.

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Beavers have an awe-inspiring ability to modify their environments for the better, and bring life back to the areas in which they live. Allowing the widespread return of beavers is an important step in starting to repair some of the damage we have done to our natural world. They have the potential to provide a natural and cost-effective solution to the serious issues of flooding, pollution, and species loss within the UK. Because beavers are so unique as ecosystem engineers, this isn’t just about the reintroduction of a species but about the reintroduction of an entire ecosystem. By boosting biodiversity, reducing the impact of floods and droughts, and creating spaces for nature to return, beavers could be a great ally in our fight against the climate crisis.
If you enjoyed this article and want to get involved – read our article on <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/how-does-deforestation-impact-wildlife-and-biodiversity-what-you-need-to-know">how deforestation is impacting wildlife</a>.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/plan"> Sign up to Ecologi</a> to support reforestation and climate action projects that help to protect biodiversity!

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On the ground in Kenya with Eden Reforestation Projects

Nothing beats seeing our impact in real life. Since June 2021, we’ve been the sole funding partner of a project restoring a vast area of degraded forest in the hills of Western Kenya. It’s one of the largest projects we’ve supported to date, and in September 2022 we were lucky enough to visit the site, meet our tree planting partners from <a href="https://www.edenprojects.org/">Eden Reforestation Projects</a> face to face, and see all that amazing impact for ourselves.
<h3>A trusted partner </h3>
At Ecologi, we only work with reforestation partners who we trust to plant trees responsibly. So you can be sure that the money you contribute to these amazing projects will genuinely make a real difference in restoring forest ecosystems and supporting livelihoods.
We’ve now got <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/get-to-know-our-reforestation-partners">10 incredible reforestation partners</a>, who operate planting sites across 16 countries. It’s vital to us we partner with like-minded organisations who implement community-led projects that both enhance biodiversity and improve the lives of local people. So our partners go through a rigorous diligence process to check they’re the right fit. Once onboarded, we work closely with our partners to ensure that the projects we implement together are long-lasting and impactful. We cherish our relationships with our reforestation partners &#8211; after all, we couldn’t do this without them!

<h3>Our visit to Kenya </h3>
It’s hard to believe, but our trip to Kenya was the first time we’d visited an international planting site since we were founded in 2019. We wanted to go much sooner, but the complications and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that this was the first time we could make the trip safely. Still, better late than never, and the delays meant the team were absolutely raring to go when they set off to visit <a href="https://www.edenprojects.org/">Eden Reforestation Projects</a> in Kenya in September 2022. 
We set out to observe the project and see what was happening on the ground, and in doing so, evaluate its progress and success. It’s important to us we monitor and evaluate all the projects we support, to make sure that we’re funding the biggest impact possible in these beautiful ecosystems.

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To put it simply, we were absolutely blown away by what we saw and experienced. The sheer magnitude of area encompassed by the Kass FM project, which is fully funded by Ecologi, along with the warmth and spirit of the planting and nursery staff upon our arrival, was truly unforgettable.
Having spent so long working remotely, moments like these make it all worthwhile. Over the trip, our team on the ground visited the Kass FM planting site, as well as two nurseries where seedlings for the project are grown &#8211; Nkoben and Tendwet.

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Importantly, we got to meet and engage with local staff members, discussing everything from planting techniques and species variety, to how working for Eden has quite literally changed their lives. Connecting in person allowed us to learn more about their monitoring and evaluation processes too, and ultimately strengthened our relationship with an incredible planting partner.   
But don’t just take our word for it, check out the video below to get a glimpse of the impact our community is funding.
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Where are my trees?

When you fund tree planting through Ecologi, you’re supporting a range of incredible reforestation and ecosystem restoration projects. Ecologi’s method of distributing the donations we receive means the positive impact of our community is being felt all around the world. In this blog we’re going to shed some light on exactly how your money is spread across the projects we support, and why we’ve chosen to do it this way.
First things first, if you fund UK, US, or Australian trees, the projects linked with these trees on your profile are exactly where those trees will be (or, in the case of UK trees, have already been) planted. 
For all the other trees funded by the Ecologi community, we have a slightly different system. Due to the projects we support having varying costs associated with them (depending on geographic location, types of tree planted, price of land etc), we combine trees from all core* projects into one funding pot. When you buy a tree from this pot, you are randomly assigned one of these trees, and this is what appears on your profile.

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Ecologi’s method of distributing trees allows us to fund a range of different types of reforestation and ecosystem restoration projects. The benefits of spreading our funding across all these projects include:
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<li aria-level="1">More affordable prices</li>
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We want everyone to be able to play their part in protecting our planet, regardless of their budget. Ecologi’s system for grouping trees from different projects into one funding pot means we’re able to offer a price per tree that is affordable for everyone. Together, we’re able to fund projects all over the world at a variety of price-points, meaning the positive impact of your money is felt in many more communities than it may otherwise have been. 
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<li aria-level="1">Supporting projects and communities all over the world</li>
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There are so many wonderful reforestation and ecosystem restoration projects out there that bring unique sets of benefits to local people, biodiversity, and our planet. As a member of the Ecologi community, you are part of the solution for getting vital funding to all the projects that need and deserve it most. From mangrove projects in Madagascar providing important habitat for terrestrial and marine species and protecting communities from coastal flooding, to forest restoration projects in the high Andes providing water security for millions of people and helping to support vulnerable species such as Spectacled Bears and Andean Condors, your money goes a long way, in more ways than one!
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<li aria-level="1">Less risk</li>
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Supporting a variety of projects means that trees funded by the Ecologi community are at less risk. While every project we fund goes through our rigorous risk assessment process, and we ensure that every necessary action is taken to protect the trees, when you’re working with nature there is always some risk. By spreading the trees we fund across many sites around the world we are helping to minimise the threat of natural hazards. For example, if we were only funding one project and a fire swept through the site, a large proportion of the trees we had funded would likely be damaged or killed. However, by spreading the trees we’re funding across many sites, we’re ensuring that, should such an event occur, it would only impact a small proportion of the trees funded by the Ecologi community.

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We have tried to make the trees in our community members’ profiles representative of the way in which the trees we’re funding are actually distributed around the world. 
While the process of allocating trees to profiles is randomised, trees from certain projects are more likely to be selected and allocated to your profile than others, simply because there are more of them in the pot. This is why you’ll see trees on your profile associated with one of the projects in Madagascar, Mozambique, and Kenya fairly often, but very occasionally you’ll spot one associated with smaller projects such as those in Peru, Morocco, or Senegal for example.
While the trees from different projects do vary in price, they are all planted and nurtured by wonderful organisations with whom we are proud to work. You can learn more about these organisations in our blog post <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/get-to-know-our-reforestation-partners">here</a>. No matter which trees are randomly assigned to your profile, you can be sure that they are part of fantastic initiatives that have been hand-selected by us for the amazing benefits they are bringing to local people, local wildlife, and our planet. 
So, when it comes to the breakdown of projects at the top of your profile, the numbers show the total number of trees from each project that have been allocated to your profile. When the trees on everyone’s profiles are combined, the number of trees assigned to each project will total the number of trees we, collectively, have actually funded in each project.
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*Our core tree planting projects are where the majority of the trees that we fund are planted, in countries including Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Peru, and Morocco. For a full list of our core planting sites and more information about the projects we support, please visit <a href="https://ecologi.com/projects">ecologi.com/projects</a>.

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Our free carbon footprinting tool just got more accurate

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Built by Prof. Mike Berners-Lee

The story of our free carbon footprinting tool for small businesses just took another exciting turn. Ecologi Zero now uses the brand new and industry-leading dataset from Small World Consulting and carbon footprinting expert Prof. Mike Berners-Lee. 
Integrating the most robust and comprehensive carbon footprinting data available into our software means that thousands of UK-based small businesses can more accurately calculate emissions, supporting emissions reduction and their journey to  net-zero.

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Includes all seven greenhouse gases under the GHG Protocol

We’re one of the first to use this amazing new dataset, and it represents a real leap forward for Ecologi Zero. It gives a more accurate picture of supply chain emissions, which can often account for 90% or more of an organisation’s total emissions. It also includes all seven greenhouse gases under the GHG Protocol, where most other datasets only go up to six. 
The dataset harnesses the most up-to-date, consistent and robust economic and environmental data to produce the most realistic and globally comprehensive set of emissions factors. This dataset also accounts for 93% of global GDP and 89% of global emissions, while spanning 65 countries, allowing us to expand from the UK in the future.

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Partnering with Small World Consulting

This is a big update for us, and it’s been a long time in the works. <a href="https://www.sw-consulting.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Small World Consulting</a> has been working with Ecologi since the summer of last year to help refine our free carbon footprinting tool and remove the key barriers for small businesses, such cost, technology and skills. 
Our CEO, Elliot Coad said: “As recent UN reports have made clear, every fraction of a degree counts. Reducing emissions is the single most important action businesses can take. At Ecologi, we want to help businesses make more informed decisions about where and how to decarbonise their operations and supply chains &#8211; starting with more accurate and practical emissions calculations. Our fantastic collaboration with Mike and his team is helping to make carbon footprinting possible for every business, no matter how small. It’s a great privilege to be one of the first to use the Small World emissions dataset.”
Professor Mike Berners-Lee is one of the leading authorities in carbon accounting globally. His published works, including How Bad Are Bananas and There is No Planet B, are renowned for simplifying the complex field of carbon footprinting and guiding people on the actions they can take to collectively tackle climate change.
He said: “We are very happy to be helping Ecologi to enable companies to understand and reduce their emissions. And we are delighted for them to be early adopters of the multi-regional emissions model, which we have worked so hard on to ensure it is as up to date, transparent, robust and realistic as it can possibly be”. 
Our team of in-house carbon accountants will continue working closely with Mike and his team of experts at Small World Consulting on both new and existing features, to make our emissions assessments even more comprehensive in the future. The team will also provide ongoing database support to make sure Ecologi Zero uses the most recent and appropriate emissions data.
We’re currently onboarding businesses to the beta version Ecologi Zero. For more information and to find out if your business is eligible to sign up for free, click <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Why are beavers ecosystem engineers?

Why do we need beavers?

In depth: The Scottish Beaver Trial

In depth: The Devon Beaver Project

In depth: The Cornwall Beaver project

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Where are my trees?

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