Tamar - Beaver Management

Tamar

Contact Person

Matt Holden

Beaver Project Lead

Devon Wildlife Trust

Contact Details

beavers@devonwildlifetrust.org

07553268153

Forum/Facebook

Link to forum/Facebook

Click map for larger view

Beaver Management Group

The Tamar Beaver Management Group is a partnership of organisations created to oversee the management of the wild beavers living throughout the Tamar catchment and ensure that the opinions of all stakeholders are taken into account in beaver management decisions .

The BMG has three components: executive group, delivery partnership, and forum.

The Delivery Partnership is managed by the Devon and Cornwall Wildlife Trusts and the Beaver Trust. It includes Westcountry Rivers Trust, University of Exeter, South West Water, Tamar Valley AONB, the Devon and Cornwall Mammal Groups as well as representatives from Environment Agency, Natural England and Forestry England.

The forum will incorporate anyone from the Tamar valley with an interest in beavers and will be convened annually.

To date, funding for the monitoring and management of beavers in the Tamar catchment has come from Devon Environment Foundation, Devon and Cornwall Wildlife Trusts, Beaver Trust, South West Water, Devon Mammal Group, Cornwall Mammal Group, Natural England, the Environment Agency and Forestry England.

The Terms of Reference for the Beaver Management Group can be viewed below.

History and distribution

Beavers are now widespread in the Tamar catchment after escaping from a private collection several years ago. They have dispersed gradually and can now be found along most of the main stem of the river right down into the estuary and on a number of the main tributaries including the Inny, Carey, Wolf, Lyd and Lew. Beavers are large and highly mobile animals and, as has been seen elsewhere, will move great distances along watercourses in the absence of other beaver territories. Therefore evidence of low level beaver activity could be found in many places in the Tamar catchment.

Contacts and organisations

The following organisations and people are involved in the Tamar Beaver Management Group, and can be contacted if you wish to discuss any aspect of beaver management in the Tamar valley. Insert contact details of Forum members happy to be contacted by stakeholders Mark Elliott, Pete Burgess, Cheryl Marriott, Tom Shelley, etc.