Trust welcomes more new kits on the block

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is celebrating the arrival of more baby beavers at one of its nature reserves.

Following the licensed release of four beavers at its Willington Wetlands Reserve in 2021, one pair bred to produce their first kits.

Now the beavers have expanded the family with two more kits recently sighted and captured on camera following another successful year of the trust’s beaver reintroduction programme.

Up until their re-introduction in 2021, beavers had not lived and bred in Derbyshire for 800 years.

Now, the growing beaver family will play a crucial role in making the county wilder, helping to manage the landscape within the Trent Valley, which will in time reduce flooding risk downstream whilst also storing carbon.

Henry Richards, Trent Valley living landscape officer at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome two more beavers to Willington.

“The beaver reintroduction programme only started two years ago, but thanks to the hard work of volunteers, staff and partners, this family of beavers has a resilient environment in which to thrive.

“By reintroducing beavers and keeping human impact low, Willington has become a mosaic of prime wetland habitats creating an important sanctuary for wildlife.

“The beavers have shaped and improved the site in ways that we couldn’t have imagined by coppicing trees and shrub species, damming smaller water courses, and digging the start of ‘beaver canal’ systems.

“These activities have been instrumental in creating a diverse and dynamic wetland, which have provided enormous benefits for wildlife including otters, water voles, kingfisher, egret, and bittern, which have bred for the first time in Derbyshire. We look forward to the family continuing to grow!”