SBAG Scottish Beaver Advisory Group Meeting - 14 November 2024

Welcome and introductions

The chair opened the meeting by thanking attendees for ensuring that the group remains respectful and inclusive. Welcome to Martin Janes from the River Restoration Centre replacing Rachel Helliwell representing water interests. It had previously been proposed that in person meetings will be held every second meeting and it was noted that recently online meetings had been favoured due to budgetary constraints, but the Chair suggested we return to holding alternate meetings in person.

Some members of the group had travelled to Bavaria recently to learn about the integration of beavers and shared their reflections. Paraphrasing:

• The Danube flood plain was impressive, as were the beaver modified wetlands.
• Public acceptability of beavers had initially been good when first reintroduced and had declined when conflicts were experienced, but had improved where/when mitigation was seen to be working.
• Significant government money is being invested in protecting assets, including floodbanks from a range of burrowing animals. This is costly, but is supported recognising the savings in terms of flooding.

Minutes of previous meeting – 22 August 2024

No comments from group. Minutes accepted for publication on the webpage.

Action points and matters arising

AP 6:  NatureScot to review the sub-group ToRs to ensure consistency. NatureScot advised that all the ToRs had been reviewed with recommendations for minor changes for consistency. Discharged.  

AP 7: SBAG to approve the sub-groups ToR. Ensure SBAG content with all the ToRs. To be completed for the next meeting. Discharged. 

ToRs have been circulated to the group. Members agreed and approved ToRs for all subgroups. 

AP 6: NatureScot to provide an update regarding fish use at current water gates, following discussion at the January 2024 meeting. Ongoing. 

NatureScot provided a verbal update that the watercourse with a watergate in place had been surveyed this summer with a report due later in the year. A verbal report is that there were more fish upstream and downstream of the gate this year than recorded previously. This possibly reflects the improving habitat since the burn was last dredged. There have been no sightings of beavers passing the gates and trapping is ongoing upstream. The survey of other sites that had been planned was not possible as they had recently been dredged, with no suitable fish habitat remaining. The group discussed a site visit to see the water gate and proposed this is added to the list of potential site visits, pending landowner approval.

AP 2: NatureScot to check contract timescales for conducting PMs and returning reports. 

NatureScot reported that there is an expectation of an annual report in the contract with individual PMs being reported as an when they are completed. The contract does not have a set timescale for individual PMs being reported as they are often performed in batches. Eight animals had been delivered to RDSV for PM in May and results for these animals are expected imminently. Most of these animals had been reported by the public with only one shot under licence and collected.

Some members expressed concern that delays could lead to issues of poor practice not being followed up. The group had further discussion around the purpose of PMs which is to learn from experience of licenced control in terms of best practice, health and welfare considerations, rather than seeking to penalise individual controllers. It was reiterated that any incidences where a wildlife crime was suspected would be routed via PolicScotland.

New AP1 NatureScot to discuss with RDSV whether faster turnarounds of postmortem results is possible. 

AP 4: The Chair offered to organise a meeting of sub-group chairs to ensure good communication between sub-groups and SBAG. Discharged.

The meeting of sub-group chairs to be held following this meeting, the Chair will report back on any actions that arise.

AP 5: The Chair agreed to redraft the report and circulate before the next meeting. Discharged

There has been a redraft of the SBAG report and amendments have been made. The report has now been published on the SBAG website.

AP 6: NatureScot to share the interpretation of Favourable Conservation Status regarding beavers in Scotland. Discharged. 

NatureScot shared links to various documents which set out the interpretation of Favourable Conservation Status with regard to beaver and how this is being applied in practice prior to the meeting. There were no further comments from group. 

AP 7:  The Chair agreed to look at options for gathering cross-sectoral interests to discuss the challenges. SEPA offered to provide an appropriate contact. Ongoing. 

The Chair has met with several experts from SEPA and the University of Stirling to discuss flood resilience and beaver impacts. A flood resilience conference is to be held in January, led by SNIFFER. A Partnership is in development to address climate risks at a regional scale; the ‘Tayside Adaptive Partnership’ and would appear to be a good forum to engage with on these matters. The Chair is to feedback on further discussions with SNIFFER. 

Sub-group updates - Chairs to report

Management and Mitigation (Chaired by Roisin Campbell-Palmer, Beaver Trust)

The subgroup had a meeting with a focus on riparian woodland in presence of beavers, with lots of discussion of challenges and opportunities. Discussions recognised the need for alignment of policy/ grants and considered what is needed to aid the design of new woodland creations to build better resilience and reduce impacts. Beaver Trust mentioned they have scope to fund small scale trials of new planting designs in the presence of beaver. A follow up meeting is proposed to agree actions that can be taken forward by the members. Given their key role here, this is likely to be postponed until Scottish Forestry have a new policy lead in post. The next meeting is planned to have a focus on agricultural impacts. It is proposed to host a joint meeting with the fisheries subgroup next year.

Communications (Chaired by Sarah Robinson, Scottish Wildlife Trust)

Discussions have involved reviewing the strategy goals with an initial focus on making information more accessible. E.g. The NatureScot web content on beavers has been redesigned to be more accessible to link to other guidance and websites. Beaver Trust and Heart of Argyll are progressing an education pack. The Communications subgroup can offer communications support to other subgroups. 

Research and innovation (Chaired by Aileen Mill, University of Newcastle)

The next Research and Innovation sub-group meeting will be held in Spring 2025. The group were investigating external funding to be able to bring in guest speakers to their subgroup meetings (the costs required for this to be shared with SBAG). Core members of the subgroup are to meet prior to the main meeting. Discussions are planned to focus on the social and economic research areas; a framework for assessing cost benefits of beaver presence in specific landscapes, perceptions of beavers, the effects of beaver restoration on wellbeing etc.

Translocation updates - ALL

CNPA noted that they have carried out translocations to four release sites in the last six weeks completing the second year of translocations. The first of these releases is about to have completed the initial 6-week post-release monitoring. In total there have now been 10 beaver groups released to the upper Spey catchment. It was asked what the licence permits and if there are plans for further releases. CNPA indicated that other potential sites have been identified although there have been no formal discussions with landowners yet. The licence permits up to 15 pairs/family groups. Further releases beyond this number would be subject to agreement with NatureScot licensing, but it is expected there are further suitable sites.

FLS confirmed 18 beavers had been released on the National Forest Estate (Tayside, Knapdale and Trossachs) since 2023, with unfortunately one animal confirmed dead. Further releases are planned and have been approved by NatureScot. Communities and neighbours have been largely supportive. The main constraint from FLS is the lack of available sites for translocation. Noted thanks to Beaver Trust and support from NatureScot licensing. There has been further consideration of proposals for beaver translocation to Glen Affric. FLS are meeting with farmers to discuss their concerns and management and mitigation proposals. 

A discussion was held regarding further available sites for translocations, noting there are still release sites available within Scotland this year and elsewhere in Britain. However there remains an ongoing need to identify further sites. The group had some discussion about how these sites are identified and supported. NatureScot set out that they have carried out the assessment of mainland catchments in the SEA Addendum assessment of 2022 to inform where there are likely to be high benefits/ low conflicts, but that prioritisation is also dependent on expressions of interest from land managers seeking to host beavers. It was asked if any other areas had been prioritised. NatureScot confirmed an SEA screening had been completed for the River Ness and River Lochy catchments and that the current priority for NatureScot resources is in completing a national Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA).

Beaver Trust noted they are aware of other interest in the west and in the Highlands. NatureScot offered to bring parties together where they are aware there is interest. One member suggested the lack of money for mitigation is likely to be limiting land managers coming forward and offering to host beavers.  There was further discussion of the visibility of the ‘call’ for expressions of interest and availability of support for those seeking to develop proposals.

Information updates

Beaver survey 2024-25: NatureScot introduced the plans for an update to the beaver population survey for Tayside. See NatureScot website.  

The project is being run in partnership with The Beaver Trust (field survey) and St Andrews University. Public sightings are also being requested through Mammal Mapper (i-Record) to inform the survey extent. The survey area has increased by 40% from the previous survey in 2021. A survey of group size is planned for May 2025 (Beaver Trust) and is expected to inform population estimates and management impacts. The survey is due to be completed by the end of summer, with data analysis including the occupancy modelling by the University of Sr Andrews planned to follow. This part of the project aims to inform future survey/ sampling design. 

Table 1: Poject milestones

Project milestone	Date
Field survey start	Started
Beaver field survey interim report	14 March 2025
Beaver field survey completed (and group size survey start)	30 May 2025
Start of occupancy modelling	01 July 2025
Draft report from field survey and territory mapping received by NatureScot	31 July 2025
Draft report from occupancy modelling received by NatureScot	15 September 2025
Final Report from field survey and territory mapping received by NatureScot	30 September 2025
Final report from occupancy modelling received by NatureScot	31 October 2025

 

Beaver Population Simulation App: Aileen Mill shared a presentation on the App that has been developed to simulate beaver population growth. The App development has been supported by NatureScot, Natural England and NRW. Previous surveys from Tayside have been used to train and validate the model.  The model is based on individual beavers based on an understanding of beaver ecology within a landscape where the likelihood of beaver movement is classified based on available habitat mapping (suitable for establishing a territory, suitable for beavers to move through or unsuitable). It can be used to simulate population growth following beaver translocation. The modelling process follows growth, and movement, it predicts occupancy and territory numbers. It can import records of sightings, measure distance between features, assess how long it would take to travel between points on a map and show a territory settlement pattern whilst also allowing for areas where beavers are not permitted to go (in the model). There are instructions on how to use the App. Like all models it has the caveat that predictions are based on the model parameters. Currently the App is only available to the organisations that contributed to its development due to current hosting arrangements. If there are scenarios that members of the advisory group would like to explore, please get in touch with NatureScot. 

AOB

A NatureScot blog on beavers and burrowing is to be published today

NatureScot have recently been made aware of two PhD students at Stirling University who are working on beaver related projects. One looking at the natural capital valuation of beaver ecosystem services and are seeking to interview experts. It has been suggested that members of the Research and Innovation sub-group may be invited to participate. The second project is seeking to examine expectations of beaver mitigation. NatureScot have indicated support for the project and would plan to contact those that have been supported via the mitigation scheme to ask if they wish to participate.

New AP 2 Dates of meeting for 2025 to be proposed and circulated.

A question was asked about beaver impacts or mitigation outside of the Tay catchment. Details of this are published annually in our Beaver Management reports.

Summary of outstanding actions

From 22/8/24

AP 6: NatureScot to provide an update regarding fish use at current water gates, following discussion at the January 2024 meeting. Ongoing. 

AP 7:  The Chair agreed to look at options for gathering cross-sectoral interests to discuss the challenges. SEPA offered to provide an appropriate contact. Ongoing. 

From 14/11/24

AP1 NatureScot to discuss with RDSV whether faster turnarounds of postmortem results is possible. 

AP 2 Dates of meeting for 2025 to be proposed and circulated.