Green Minds Webinar: Beaver Fever - nature based solutions to water management & much more!
Join us and learn about our exciting plans for beaver reintroduction & rewilding in Plymouth through our Green Minds webinar!
This free webinar is brought to you by Green Minds, a city-wide movement to find innovative nature-based solutions to solve environmental challenges and give nature a voice.
We all know by now, business as usual is not enough if we are to stop the destruction of the natural world and the massive impacts to our way of life. With Sir David Attenborough’s recent documentary ‘Extinction: The Facts’, shocking many, California wildfires raging, and the residents of Fairbourne being declared as the UKs first climate refugees - it is clear a shift change is needed in thinking and action.
In August the government made the momentous decision that the beavers living wild on the River Otter would be permitted to remain and spread naturally. This followed the successful conclusion to the 5-year River Otter Beaver Trial that was conducted under a licence granted to Devon Wildlife Trust.
Beavers were hunted to extinction from the British Isles in the 16th century. As well as being cute, beavers are fascinating creatures as they engineer their surroundings by felling trees, damming sections of river and creating a network of canals. Beavers create wetland habitats which are great for birds, fish and invertebrates and they also ‘slow the flow’ of water during and after rainfall that can help reduce flooding downstream. Beavers can also improve water quality and quantity and store carbon in a really efficient way to help combat the climate emergency.
This webinar will feature the change happening right here in Plymouth, and its approach to nature-based solutions that restore nature, manage environmental challenges and support our communities. Hosted by Chris Avent, Plymouth City Council Green Estate Manager; we are delighted to introduce you to Mark Elliott, Devon Beaver Project Lead at Devon Wildlife Trust.
Mark will share his overview of the first reintroduction of a formerly resident mammal back into the English countryside. As well as presenting the findings of the River Otter Trial and Devon Wildlife Trust Enclosed Beaver Project in the upper Tamar, he will discuss the first urban UK beaver reintroduction at Derriford Community Park in Plymouth.