A pair of beavers have been released into a 70-acre enclosure at Wild Wrendale, a Lincolnshire Rewilding project – the first beavers in the county for over 400 years.
Jack and Hannah Dale, founders of Wrendale Designs, made the decision to dedicate their 300-acre low-lying, unproductive farm to nature restoration four years ago, having struggled to farm it profitably. Ongoing surveys are already showing evidence for rapidly improving biodiversity and species abundance with over 450 nesting bird territories across more than 50 different species this year including a number of red-listed species such as skylark, tawny owl and little grebe.
“We are incredibly excited about bringing beavers back to Lincolnshire and are really looking forward to seeing how they transform the landscape and the habitats they are able to create. The speed with which nature has begun to recolonise our farm within a very short space of time is extremely encouraging and fills me with hope for the future” says Jack and Hannah Dale.
“We are very grateful for the support we’ve received from the Beaver Trust, Natural England, Derek Gow, Celtic Rewilding and Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust amongst others and thank them wholeheartedly for helping to make this happen.”
Hannah says “As an artist, I take all of my inspiration from nature and we feel incredibly privileged to be in a position to give back in this way. It’s extremely rewarding and feels like a very positive way to channel the success that we’ve had with Wrendale. Of course, it also means that there is even more inspiration for my paintings and I’m working on a big project to celebrate what is happening on the farm… watch this space!”
