#606: Stephen Collins on Beaver reintroduction

A super cartoon from Stephen Collins who has a lovely style and tackles cultural and everyday issues in a creative way.

Prints can also be purchased from his shop.

Check out Instagram and other locations to find his work.

Copyright: Stephen Collins.

#518: Beaver Trust

The Beaver Trust is a UK based charity.

It's aim is to support the reintroduction of beavers because of the work they do in the landscape to help change the landscape to become more resilient to climate change, and to reduce the flood risk on the rivers they live on due to the dams they build. 

They have also produced a short documentary which is described as follows:

A brand new short documentary produced for Beaver Trust, following science communicator Sophie Pavelle on a journey of discovery, as she visits sites around Britain where beavers have been reintroduced. Meeting the extraordinary people behind their story so far, this film explores what a future might look like, with beavers living wild in our landscapes and rivers across Britain.

A pair of beavers that were released into the wild have bred for the second timehttps://t.co/R06LL0rZMk

— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) July 18, 2023

It would be worth focussing on beavers.

The Beaver is Europe's largest rodent.

Have you seen them in the wild?

#426: Nice beaver...

There are wild beavers within 15 minutes of my house.... they are active at Sculthorpe Nature Reserve in Norfolk.

As #COP29 draws to a close in Baku, perhaps it is a good moment to be reminded that despite the complex global politics, there are practical things we can do on the ground here in England. & in acting to build resilience to climate change impacts, we can restore Nature too. pic.twitter.com/YdzbeFyvPC

— Tony Juniper (@TonyJuniper) November 22, 2024

These local initiatives are part of the Beavers and Biodiversity Gain Project.

In September 2019, after a successful application to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, the Trust secured a grant.

The project was in two stages, based at the Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve – Norfolk.

• Creation and reintroduction of Beaver area.
• The diversion of flood water from the Wensum to Hempton Moor, south of the Reserve, and enhancing its wetland habitat (reedbed & ponds).

#263: Giants are flourishing

An interesting story on the BBC today about the giant redwooods that were planted in a number of locations to add to arboretums or woodlands in the grounds of stately homes, and which are now flourishing in the UK's climate. 

They were brought over by the Victorians, along with a range of other plants which were introduced at this time to ornamental gardens.

It was interesting to see that there are now more of the trees here in the UK than are left in California. 

As they are no older than 160 years, does that make them part of our natural history now? They are non-native species of course.

The research article also refers to the carbon sequestration potential of the trees.

Disney, Mathias et al. (2023). Data for: UK redwoods terrestrial laser scanner point clouds [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ttdz08m3n

Giant redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum) are some of the UK’s largest trees, despite only being introduced in the mid-19th century. Given recent interest in planting redwoods in the UK, partly due to their carbon sequestration potential and also their undoubted public appeal, an understanding of their viability is important.