Gnawing concerns remain amongst farmers after return of beavers to Cairngorms
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Gnawing concerns are not going away among local farmers and crofters after the return of beavers to the wild in Badenoch and Strathspey earlier this week after an absence of four centuries.
The historic moment arrived on Monday at undisclosed locations on Rothiemurchus by Aviemore and on Wildland Cairngorms Ltd land with Lorna Slater MSP – Scottish Government Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity – there to offer a helping hand.
A pair of Eurasian beavers was freed at both sites with officials from the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) and the Beaver Trust alongside local land managers overseeing the operation.
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But the Spey Crofters and Farmers group – which says it has more than 50 members stretching from Laggan to Cromdale – has claimed the CNPA has ridden roughshod over their views.
They have fears over who will pick up the bills for damage to river banks and for crop losses in the longer term once a beaver damage mitigation plan being run by the Cairngorms National Park comes to an end in either 2026 or 2028.
CNPA park officials are confident such costs will be covered nationally there-after by agricultural grants once reforms come in during 2026 but farmers and crofters have said there are no guarantees.
As the local beaver population grows, they have said problems and associated costs will rise.
The Spey Crofters and Farmers group said they have held two meetings recently with CNPA representatives to thrash out details on minimising impacts on land but ‘felt unheard’.
A spokesperson said: “We have been stonewalled on two key points.
“We had sought a delay to the release of beavers until we reached an agreement on the outstanding points of concern on how economic impacts are managed.
“We also want an extension to the monitoring and mitigation scheme which the CNPA has drawn up to beyond 2028. Beavers will be with us well beyond that time...
“The CNPA has upgraded the national beaver mitigation plan to something that works in the local area but of importance is that this is only being promised for initially four years and possibly up to six years whereas beaver release is for life and the population will grow – doing both good work and potentially serious damage to infrastructure.”
The spokesperson continued: “In the right place beavers do have a positive role with regards to flood management, climate change and biodiversity.
“However, our concerns relate to when beavers go outwith the release areas where for example either crops are grown or river and flood banks are threatened by burrowing and potential ‘blow-out’ during floods.”
He added: “We are not looking to profiteer from negotiations but just to protect our assets and livelihoods. This is not unreasonable.”
Anne Kirk, who farms at Mains of Curr by Nethy Bridge, said: “I have had to answer many phone calls from depressed farmers but none like those we have had received about beavers
“We have seen bills amounting to £1.8m in damage to farmland in Tayside with very little compensation to repair the banks or loss of crops.
“The CNPA has a mitigation scheme until 2028 but what happens after that?
“We have trees on our river bank and ones recently planted for the salmon to shade the river banks to help cool the water. This will now be destroyed by beavers.
“This could be a turning point for the CNPA as a lot of landowners and farmers say they will not co-operating with the project.”
The CNPA was granted a licence from NatureScot just over two weeks ago to relocate up to 15 families of beavers in the national park over the next five years in the first out of range translocation in Scotland.
Following Monday’s release, Ms Slater said: “This is a key milestone in our ongoing collective efforts to ensure this iconic species can once again thrive across Scotland.
“I want to thank the Cairngorms National Park Authority and all the organisations involved who have made this truly exciting moment possible.
“The Scottish Government will continue to support the expansion of beavers across the country, through our beaver strategy.
“We want both communities and nature to benefit from this mission. This is why we will ensure that farmers and land managers are supported to live alongside beavers as they make the iconic Cairngorms their new home.”
CNPA convener Sandy Bremner described it as a ‘momentous day for the Cairngorms National Park and indeed for conservation in Scotland’.
He said: “Returning a lost species after an absence of over 400 years could only have been achieved by working closely with our partners – so thank you to everyone who has been involved, particularly the Cairngorms Beaver Group and local farmers, crofters and landowners.”
The RSPB Scotland’s Insh Marshes have been selected as a third local site for the release of beavers.
More than 500 people took part in public consultation’s by the CNPA with over three quarters supportive of beavers returning to the area.
