From the archive
26 Oct 2026
Over the course of 2025, the restoration team at Beaver Trust put beavers into British water 22 times. One of those releases was the first in England to be carried out as an authorised wild release, meaning it went ahead with official permission. Others brought beavers into Scottish river catchments new to the programme. The species had been missing from Britain for roughly four centuries.
Elsewhere in Europe, some of the same work is happening without anyone moving animals at all. Beavers are spreading into northern Italy from across the Alps under their own power, and Beaver Trust contributes to the surveys and research tracking them there. In Portugal, the Rewilding Portugal team confirmed in 2025 that a wild beaver had been seen. It was the first in the country for about 500 years.
Back in Scotland, the charity spent part of the same year counting beavers across the catchment of the River Tay. It was a large survey, done so that the population there can be followed more closely. The charity also helps landowners and communities find workable arrangements for living with beavers. Its Making Space for Water campaign argues, among other things, for paying landowners who leave room for the animals.
Beaver Trust has now joined Rewilding Europe's European Rewilding Network. Richard Young, its chief executive, describes the move as a way to "connect our work in Britain with a growing movement". In practice the charity will share what it has learned about catching and moving beavers, keeping them well, monitoring them afterwards, and helping them and their human neighbours live alongside each other.
Rewilding Europe · Read the source