At our 2026 Educate and Inspire lecture Ben Morris, Senior Field Officer for the Beaver Trust, gave a fascinating talk about the secret, and not so secret, lives of beavers. His colourful slides illustrated their habits of foraging, digging and damming that characterise their ecosystem engineer status, enriching habitat complexity and biodiversity, and reducing flood risk. These same three activities also present challenges for an organisation dedicated to restoring this animal to the countryside, but Ben explained that each has tried and tested mitigation measures, and those with reservations are often reassured to learn that 90% of beaver activity is confined to a corridor within 10m of the water and 95% to within 20m.
Once widespread across the UK, hunting of beavers, particularly for their fur, led to their near extinction 400 years ago with their numbers falling to around 1,200 pairs scattered in remnant pockets across mainland Europe and Asia. With their disappearance went much of the thriving wetland habitat they created, but this is slowly changing with their restoration across their native range.
Local National Trust Lead Ranger, Dave Elliott, gave the audience a view of the amazing habitat enhancements brought about by beavers since they were reintroduced to one of the Black Down valleys in 2021. This reintroduction project was made possible by the Supporters who raised over £60,000 locally.
The evening also included the brief AGM of the Black Down & Hindhead National Trust Supporters where members and visitors heard from Chairman, Bob Daniels, an update on our activities and future plans. Our statutory accounts for the year to 28th Feb 2026 can be read here.
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