Behaving like beavers

admin
, 18 December 2018
Behaving like beavers
Beaver © David Plummer

By Fran Southgate

Living Landscapes Advisor

As the autumn draws in, and the rain finally starts to fall, we are coming into our busy season for Natural Flood Management. This is the time of year when we do practical work which we hope will help to protect lives and livelihoods from flooding. Sussex Flow Initiative are busily creating seasonal and permanent ponds and other natural water storage features, slowing the flow of water using natural woody dams, planting trees and hedgerows and more.

Sussex flow scape

Effectively, our Sussex Flow Initiative Project Officers are mimicking what our ancient natural ecosystem engineers, the beaver, would have done naturally. As well as helping to reduce flooding, this includes creating fantastic wetland habitat, trapping, storing and regenerating precious soils, and helping to reduce pollution.

I was invited to present at a meeting of the Beaver Advisory Committee for England recently where we heard about the many benefits that beavers can have for people and for the environment. In just a 2.8 hectare plot in the Devon Beaver Trial over the last seven years, beavers have achieved the following :-

  • Created 650 m² of new open water habitat
  • Increased water storage from 50 m³ to 1000 m³
  • Reduced the flood peak by 30%,
  • Increased the time it takes for floods to flow through the site from 15 mins to 1 hour
  • Enhanced the summer baseflow during drought
  • Had three times less sediment leaving the site than entering it
  • Trapped 70 kg per m² of sediment - of which 70% entered the site as run off from just a 20 ha piece of land upstream.
  • Had five times less phosphate pollution in the water leaving the site
  • Increased frogspawn clumps on the site from <;20 to >600
  • Stored around 15 tonnes of carbon in 13 ponds

If our work on the Sussex Flow Initiative can achieve even a fraction of these results, then we know we are making a massive positive difference to issues of flooding, drought, pollution, wildlife decline, and many other things. Cumulatively over time, across a large river catchment, these things can all help to make a really big difference.

For more information take a look at these web resources :-

www.sussexflowinitiative.org

www.devonwildlifetrust.org


Leave a comment

Comments

  • Triana Frost:

    would it be possible for someone to come and talk to my beaver colony in sompting about real beavers thankyou Triana Frost

    21 Sep 2019 00:58:15

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1788295456.17230 [907] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1788295456.21120.039Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1788295456.21140.0001Server address: 216.73.216.54
1788295456.21140Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1788295456.21140Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/behaving-like-beavers
    [s] => behaving-like-beavers
    [1] => behaving-like-beavers
)
1788295456.21160.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788295456.21280.0012 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1788295456.2150.0022 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1788295456.21570.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1788295456.23130.0156 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24699162
1788295456.23230.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24699162
1788295456.23310.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-09-01 20:44:00' AND saleTo>'2026-09-01 20:44:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1788295456.23470.0015 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='behaving-like-beavers')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-01 20:44:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1788295456.23860.0039 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1788295456.23950.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1693 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-01 20:44:00'
1788295456.24080.0014 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1788295456.24170.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1788295456.24260.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=124 LIMIT 1
1788295456.24320.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=66 LIMIT 1
1788295456.2440.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788295456.24420.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1788295456.24540.0012 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-01 20:44:00' AND postSlug='behaving-like-beavers'
1788295456.27630.0309Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788295456.27680.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1788295456.27910.0022Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1788295456.27940.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1788295456.28070.0013 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1788295456.28240.0017 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788295456.2920.0096 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788295456.2930.0011 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788295456.29630.0032Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1788295456.29630 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788295456.29710.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788295456.29770.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788295456.30080.0031 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788295456.3020.0012 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788295456.30270.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788295456.30530.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788295456.30640.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1788295456.30970.0033 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1788295456.31040.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788295456.31070.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1788295456.31180.0011Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1788295456.31230.0005 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='behaving-like-beavers')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-01 20:44:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1788295456.31550.0033 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1788295456.31620.0007 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788295456.3190.0027Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1788295456.32010.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1693 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1788295456.39420.0741 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1788295456.39470.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788295456.39490.0001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1788295456.39590.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1788295456.39680.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1788295456.39770.0009 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788295456.40120.0035 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788295456.40260.0014 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788295456.40570.0031 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788295456.4070.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1788295456.40810.0012 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1788295456.40890.0008 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788295456.41280.0039 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788295456.41370.0009 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788295456.41740.0036 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788295456.42130.0039 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1788295456.42240.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1788295456.42310.0007 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788295456.42680.0037 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788295456.4280.0012 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788295456.43110.0031 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788295456.43350.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1788295456.43470.0012 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1788295456.43570.001 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788295456.43920.0035 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788295456.440.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788295456.4430.003 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788295456.44430.0014Request time: 0.2733
1788295456.44440Process time: 0.2731
1788295456.44440Memory: 1.6232