Beaver Protection and Licencing

In 2022, Beavers became a UK protected species under the conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. This change means that Eurasian Beavers are a European protected species in England and that it is an offence to:

  • deliberately disturb a Beaver - this includes any action likely to impair their ability to survive, breed or rear their young
  • deliberately injure, capture or kill a Beaver
  • damage or destroy the breeding site or resting place of a Beaver

It is also an offence to:

  • possess, control or transport a Beaver
  • sell or exchange a Beaver
  • offer a Beaver for sale or exchange

This applies whether the Beaver is alive or dead and includes beaver parts and derivatives.

Activities around Beaver management and licencing have also changed. You need a licence to release Beavers – see CL50 information below for more details.

England Beaver Management Strategy

Beavers are slow to breed but at some point in the next 10 to 20 years, it is likely that we will need to start managing human Beaver interactions and potential conflicts in key Beaver release areas. The ‘Protection and management of Beavers in England’ sets out a 5 step process for Beaver management. This is :-

  1. Engaging with Beaver management groups involved with wild-living populations, Natural England and other expert organisations, to learn about the benefits of Beavers and approaches to manage or minimise challenges.
  2. Making space for Beavers to avoid the need for Beaver management, e.g. leaving space around a river for Beavers.
  3. Taking proactive lawful mitigation and management actions that do not need a licence such as installing tree guards to protect trees or removing a dam that is less than two weeks old.
  4. Low-impact licensed actions, such as reducing dam height or removing an established dam outside the breeding season.
  5. Higher-impact licensed actions that only a specially trained and licensed person can carry out, such as modifying or removing a dam during the breeding season, Beaver capture and translocation, or lethal control. Lethal control should only be considered as a last resort
  6. Beaver Management groups are embedded in the hierarchy set out in the licence requirements; landowners wanting to take action to mitigate Beaver activity must demonstrate they have engagement with these groups. There are now 3 classes of licence for Beaver release and management. These are :

A Terms of Reference for setting up / formalising Beaver Management Groups is available. Natural England will be coordinating training sessions for those wishing to lead Beaver Management.

There is national guidance on ‘How to manage Beavers and when you need a licence’.