Making space for water
BEAVERS ARE JUST PART OF THE STORY
As part of our ultimate goal to regenerate our landscapes, we want to see healthier rivers and restored riparian zones – helping others to make space for rivers, wildlife, the land and for communities to thrive.
Across Britain, rivers and streams have been heavily modified, with 85% of our rivers straightened, confined, or cut off from their floodplains. These changes have limited the ability of rivers to function naturally, contributing to increased flood and drought risk, declining water quality and the loss of biodiversity.
The Making Space for Water campaign, led by the Riverscapes partnership, is working to reverse this trend by restoring connected, nature-rich river corridors – with riparian zones (the area next to rivers), wetlands, woodlands and species like beavers all playing a part.
Ask the government to Make Space for Water and reconnect nature corridors
WHAT DOES MAKING SPACE FOR WATER LOOK LIKE?
There’s no one-size-fits-all. The approach for restoring any riparian zone or buffer should be tailored to the local landscape and needs of farmers, landowners and communities. They might include:
- Riparian trees and woodlands that stabilise banks, provide shade and support wildlife
- Wetlands that store floodwaters, clean water and create habitats
- Floodplain meadows, rich in plant and insect life
- River rewiggling and reconnection to natural floodplains
- Beaver populations which engineer diverse, water-rich environments
- Grassy margins and rough banks that trap sediment and support pollinators
Each element plays a part in building healthy, climate-resilient river corridors.
HOW WILL THIS HELP BEAVERS?
Financially supporting land managers and owners to make space for water and wildlife along Britain’s rivers could prove pivotal for the species’ restoration. One of the biggest challenges to realising the potential benefits of beavers is the risk of conflict with existing land management practices. If we step back human activity, give beavers space to engineer wetlands, the conflict significantly reduces.
The majority of human-beaver conflicts arise within 20m of the water’s edge. In Bavaria, over 90% of beaver conflicts occur within 10m of the water, while 95% occur within 20m. Closer to home, a study of beaver impact on woodland in Scotland over 4 years found that the majority of beaver foraging occurred within 10m of freshwater (Iason et al, 2014). Although conflicts further away than this are possible, they are rare and usually associated with an attractive food source.
We don’t aim to eliminate beaver mitigation work, but by stepping back from the water’s edge and planting up these areas with native riparian trees or shrubs, or more cheaply, allowing natural regeneration to occur, we can reinstate missing riparian habitats. This reduces the requirement for more distancing foraging for beavers and limits the impact of burrowing and canal construction.
THE RIVERSCAPES PARTNERSHIP
Beaver Trust is a founding member of the Riverscapes Partnership – a coalition of Beaver Trust, The Rivers Trust, National Trust and The Woodland Trust.
Together, we launched the Making Space for Water campaign to call on the UK Government to support a connected network of nature-rich, multi-functional river corridors across England with:
- A public commitment to restore and connect riparian zones and river corridors across England.
- Simplified, targeted support for farmers and landowners, including payments for river buffers, wetlands and riparian tree planting.
Only 14% of England’s rivers are in good ecological status, and 20% of UK homes and 80% of UK farmers have been impacted by flooding or water shortages. Benefits of making space for water include:
- Flood mitigation – slowing and storing water to reduce downstream risk
- Drought resilience – retaining water in the landscape for longer
- Water quality improvements – intercepting nutrients and sediment from runoff
- Biodiversity gains – creating habitat for a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial species
- Agricultural benefits – improving soil condition and supporting pollination
- Climate adaptation – helping landscapes adjust to changing weather patterns
If you want to see the Government create a better future for farming and rivers, add your voice to the Making Space for Water conversation.
LEARN MORE
Following the award-winning Beavers Without Borders, Beaver Trust collaborated with multi-award-winning filmmaker Nina Constable for a documentary about making space for rivers in England.
This film introduces and explores the concept of ‘river buffers’ – a measure that may help restore our failing rivers back to health. Meeting experts and key voices in this vital discussion, a variety of questions are addressed: what are river buffers? What shapes do they take? How might they help? And what are the challenges to overcome if we are to implement them across the country?
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
River buffers. Riparian zones. Nature corridors.
While the term river buffer is used across environmental policy and research, it is important to recognise that buffers can be used to imply a variety of land-use changes, including wetland creation, meadow management, tree planting and space for species like beavers.
Whatever we call them, the outcome is the same: healthy rivers, thriving wildlife and climate-resilient landscapes.