Hunted for their fur, their meat and their glands producing a fragrant oily secretion, these engineers of nature had disappeared from British rivers in the 16th century.
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They are two years old. For the first time in four centuries, beavers are once again splashing around in London, thanks to the reintroduction on Thursday March 18 of a couple of these long-toothed builders. The two mammals were released in a six-hectare enclosure at Forty Hall Farm, an educational farm in Greater London, announced the district (“borough”) of Enfied, in the north of the British capital.
Objective: improve ecosystems and deal with climate change. “It is a real lesson in humility to see these wonderful creatures return”said local council deputy leader Ian Barnes. “By exploring natural flood management techniques like this beaver project, we can reduce the risk of flood damage from extreme rainfall, protecting hundreds, if not thousands, of homes.”he added.
In addition to the interest against flooding of the dams built by beavers, their presence has the virtue of improving biodiversity and water quality.
Hunted for their fur, their meat and their glands producing a fragrant oily secretion, castoreum, used to produce food flavourings, these engineers of nature had disappeared from British rivers in the 16th century. But several studies have shown the benefits of their return, leading to several reintroduction programs in the UK, southern England and Scotland.