GovWire

From 1 October 2022 Eurasian beavers will be protected as a European protected species in England. This means the law will further protect them and the places where they breed and shelter. You need to follow this guide from 1 October 2022.

It will be against the law to:

• deliberately injure, kill, capture or disturb beavers
• damage or destroy a beaver breeding site or resting place such as a burrow, lodge or associated dam
• keep a beaver or parts of a beaver you have taken from the wild
• transport a beaver
• sell or exchange, or offer a beaver for sale or exchange

You may need to manage beavers that are present on your land. Certain management activities will be possible without a licence, but some can only be carried out with a licence. This guide helps you decide if you need to apply for a beaver licence from Natural England.

Beaver activities

Beavers can:

• improve water quality
• reduce the risk of flooding and drought
• increase biodiversity
• create more resilient landscapes to reduce the impact of climate change

They also dig burrows and channels into the banks of waterbodies (for example, a lake, river or stream), fell trees and build lodges and dams, which may cause:

• flooding to adjacent land
• injury to livestock
• damage to crops, property or machinery

Signs of beavers on your land

You could have beavers on your land if you see:

• trails through vegetation on banks around bodies of water
• channels leading from the waterway
• resting places like burrows, lodges or day rests
• gnawed or felled trees
• branches, sticks or shrubs that are cut at an angle of about 45 degrees
• dam building in a watercourse

Look for these signs in places where beavers usually live. This includes:

• land along a river, stream, lake or man-made waterway
• existing structures where beavers might build dams, for example, culverts

Burrows, lodges and day rests

Beavers dig tunnels and chambers into the banks of waterbodies. These are called burrows and vary in shape and size but can extend up to 15 metres inland from the bank. A burrow may become part of a beaver lodge.

Lodges are structures that beavers build using sticks and mud. Beavers may create a lodge above the ground and live inside it, or they might use the sticks and mud to form a roof over a tunnel, burrow or chamber below ground. They use lodges and burrows to breed, rest and rear young.

Beavers may also build a food cache out of branches and sticks.

Burrow and lodge entrances are usually underwater and may only be visible if the water is clear or the level has dropped. This means you may not know if there are burrows on your land.

Dams

A beaver dam is a structure built by beavers which can hold back water. Dams are usually made of wood, mud, stones or other materials.

A dam is associated with a burrow or lodge if it is connected to, or directly affects the water levels around a burrow or lodge.

Dams can moderate water flow and sediment loss downstream but can raise water levels and cause flooding upstream.

Channels

Beavers dig channels that fill with water to provide safe access to feeding sites and aid movement through their territory. Channels are usually 40cm to 50cm wide. Beavers also create short channels to enter and exit the water which are usually less than 1m long.

When you need a licence

You must have a licence if you need to:

• modify or remove a burrow or lodge
• modify or remove a dam that is associated with a burrow or lodge
• remove a food cache where it is joined to a lodge
• cause disturbance that affects a beavers ability to survive or breed
• transport and release a beaver
• kill, injure or capture a beaver
• possess a dead beaver or its body parts
• sell or exchange, or offer for sale or exchange, a beaver

You could get a 6-month prison sentence or an unlimited fine if you are convicted of these offences.

You do not need a licence to modify or remove a dam if its less than 2 weeks old or to modify or remove a day rest.

Wildlife licences for managing beaver activity

There are 3 beaver class licences that Natural England can issue for beaver management to:

• modify or remove beaver dams for farmers, landowners, fishery managers, foresters, land or water managers, and their advisers or consultants
• modify or remove beaver burrows, lodges and dams or possess dead beavers or their body parts for employees of public bodies or authorities, fishery managers, land and water managers, and their advisers or consultants
• capture, transport and re-release beavers, modify or remove burrows, lodges and dams or possess dead beavers or their body parts for beaver management groups, experts and specialists

If these licences do not cover the action you need to take, such as lethal control, you can apply for an individual licence from Natural England.

Contact Natural England to find out more about beaver licences.

Prevent beaver problems without a licence

If beavers could affect your property or business, there are ways you can manage beaver activity without needing a licence from Natural England.

Make a natural space for beavers

If your land includes, or is close to a river, stream or lake you should consider making a natural space for beavers.

Beaver activity usually stays within 10m to 20m of the waters edge. You could leave the space around the waterway for the beavers to use. This approach may reduce the chance of beavers moving to other areas of your land.

You can plant native species such as aspen and willow in this area. Plant roots add support to the bank structure where beavers burrow and create channels. There is little maintenance after planting, and it helps to reduce agricultural chemical run-off and increases biodiversity.

You should consider all nearby infrastructure when making natural space for beavers. Infrastructure can include highways, railways, public utilities and flood risk management.

Install fencing

Fencing is a long-term action to protect your property from beaver activity.

Fences near rivers and streams can increase flood risk, so you may need to get permission from the appropriate risk management authority.

You must not use fencing to trap beavers in a certain area because it is an offence to capture beavers. You should only use fencing to keep beavers out of vulnerable structures or certain areas of your land.

To stop beavers from digging under, climbing over or gnawing through the fence, make sure it:

• is made of galvanised welded mesh or thick stock net fencing with a mesh size no bigger than 10cm by 10cm
• is at least 1.2m high above the ground
• is attached to posts that extend 60cm into the ground which are located on the outside of the fence
• has the mesh or net buried at least 30cm underground, where possible
• has 45cm of mesh securely pegged down onto the ground towards the body of water
• has a 30cm overhang towards the body of water

You may want to seek site-specific advice before installing fencing.

You can apply for a Countryside Stewardship grant to help you pay for fencing where there are permanent crops.

The fence requirements on this page are different to the ones on the grant page. This is because the grant requirements are based on those used for other species. The Rural Payments Agency will update this in due course.

Electric fences

You must take care using electric fencing. Electric fencing can injure and kill beavers and other animals. You should not use electric fencing as a way of managing beavers and never as a permanent structure.

You should only use a temporary electric fence to:

• protect vulnerable crops for up to 3 months
• protect property in an emergency for up to 4 weeks while you find a permanent solution

If you use an electric fence, you must:

• make sure it meets British and European safety standards
• remove the fence if there is a risk of flooding

To build an effective electric fence for beavers, use:

• a strained-wire electric fence using tape instead of plain
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