Beavers finish seven-year dam project in two days
A colony of beavers has saved the Czech government almost £1 million after completing a stalled dam project themselves.
Despite a seven-year planning process and successfully securing the funding, the Czech Republic’s plans to build a new dam in the Brdy region came to a standstill as authorities struggled to acquire building permits.
However, it was the arrival of eight hard-working beavers that finally got the job done.
Speaking to Radio Prague, Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemian office of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency, said: “Beavers always know best.”
Using their powerful incisors, the semi-aquatic rodents fell trees to create wetland areas – known as ‘beaver ponds’ – which they then use as sources of food and protection from predators.
Ecologists tasked with inspecting the dams built by the beavers say they will last a long time – BRDY
The human project had aimed to restore the area to its natural state, decades after soldiers at a military base built a bypass gully which had drained the area.
According to the Brdy Protected Land Administration (PLA), which was managing the human project, the beavers constructed dams in almost the same spots that constructions were planned.
“The Military Forest Management and the Vltava River Basin were negotiating with each other to set up the project and address issues regarding ownership of land. The beavers beat them to it, saving us CZK 30 million (£994,000),” said Bohumil Fišer, the Brdy PlA chief. “They built the dams without any project documentation and for free.”
Mr Obermajor added: “The places where they build dams are always chosen just right — better than when we design it on paper.”
Ecologists tasked with inspecting the dams have said they will last a long time and create good conditions for the rare stone crayfish, frogs, and other species that thrive on wetlands.
“We are already seeing the emergence of a small pond and surrounding wetland there,” the PLA said in a statement, adding that the eight beavers were still hard at work creating new wetlands.
‘Ecosystem engineers’
Beavers are “ecosystem engineers” meaning they modify their environment to create resources, and their dams can stretch for miles.
The largest beaver dam recorded is in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, stretching the length of seven football fields – so big it is even visible from space.
In another case, when beavers built dams on the property of a large stormwater treatment facility in Oregon, scientists discovered that the animals’ structures were able to filter out heavy metals and other pollutants about twice as effectively as the human-built structures.
In 2023, California introduced a beaver-assisted restoration programme so the animals could create a healthy ecosystem for other animals, replenish groundwater and even provide wildfire protection.
In the UK, where beavers were once hunted to extinction for their fur and a natural secretion called castoreum which is used for perfumes and medicines, they have also now been successfully reintroduced. A trial in Devon between 2015 to 2020 saw the first wild breeding of beavers in 400 years.
“Beaver wetlands are a paradise for many animals and plants. They are stable ecosystems that contribute to the diversity of our landscape,” said the PLA. “Beavers are returning the landscape altered by humans to its natural beauty.”
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