Beef farmer Chris Jones is very proud of his beaver. “They’re just extraordinary,” he said.
Since releasing a couple into a fence on his Cornwall farm in 2017, he said they have been exempt from drought, preventing flooding in nearby villages, strengthening local economy and even improving oyster beds in Falmouth Bay.
Rodents were hunted for fur and oil hundreds of years ago and were extinct in England, once a common feature of our rivers. They may soon be reappearing again after the government announced on Friday it would approve the first wild beaver issuance in England hundreds of years.
Walk to the edge of Jones Farm and you will feel the soil starts to get damped. Lush grass leaves (perfect for his cattle) grow around the fat splits of the frogs as the pasture slowly gives way to the wetlands.
This is a sure sign of your entry into the beaver realm, and it is a sure sign.
Go further and you will hear the gentle drops of water in a series of dams built by hardworking rodents and see the glass pool around the lichen-covered trees. The fenced tops a magnificent pond with two beaver cabins. The furry couple obviously decided they needed two houses. Jones joked: “I’m not sure how the Council’s tax situation is.”
The beaver wall used to be a wet pasture and became a wildlife area for ponds – although it was about one-third of its current size before rodent residents moved into it. “Sometimes I still put animals in, especially when it’s dry,” Jones said. “There is no conflict between livestock and beaver.”
The habitat is amazing, the wetland areas have different depths, and the rivets of the water flow at different speeds. Some shallow layers line the shallow areas of perfect fish nurseries, while lush vegetation buzzes with invertebrates’ life. The birds obviously liked it – Woodcock churned and flew away from the bushes as we walked by.
But Jones is not happy with this awesome habitat. He longs to release the beaver. “It’s really a stamp,” he sighed. “If we can release them, we can extend this landscape all the way to the sea. The water company and the Environment Agency should be all over it.”
This is because beaver operates a free water treatment facility. Our rivers are clamped by nitrates and other pollutants in human and animal waste. Researchers at the University of Cambridge studied Jones’ farm and found that rivers fed from beaver fences were 80% lower than those farther upstream.
Although farmers like Jones can surround beavers on their land and have some illegal releases in England, it has not legally released it to the wild so far.
Jones was on the farm all his life. Originally it was beef and dairy, now he just raises beef. He had been an organic farm until pesticides were common, and he thought it was his father’s old-fashioned pre-cultivation method. Since taking over the farm 20 years ago, Jones has moved from organic to grass-roots only – and has begun to seriously re-wild.
“I’ve doubled the soil carbon since I started this wild thing,” he said proudly. “I don’t prune my hedges, and 60% of the farms are now agroforestry – cows grazing around the trees. This keeps the grass undisturbed, which provides habitat for small mammals such as voles and mice. These in turn bring raptors (birds that feed on them) to the farm. As a result, I see barn owls coming to the farm for the first time in their life – 65 years.”
He said his farm was economically productive before it began to bring back nature. We need to eat, but we still need a lot of wildlife. I think we can achieve both goals. ”
Most farmers will tell you that nature has disappeared from the countryside in recent decades. Jones saw it in his land since he was a child. “I know very well the wildlife we’ve lost over the years, especially the birds that just disappeared like curlews and grey partridges,” he said. “It’s frustrating. But it feels like bringing things back and making a small difference.”
The introduction of beavers is a natural progress. Jones began to study what other farmers were doing and met some of the works by Derek Gow, the leading UK beaver master. “It sounds like it’s completely effortless to make beavers. It makes the river more interesting, adds biodiversity, is good for fish, and reduces flooding. It sounds like we can really do what the turbochargers are already doing.”
So he got in touch with Gow and decided to build a beaver wall on his land with the help of some scientists from the Cornwall Firdlife Trust and the University of Exeter. Beaver was released in 2017. “We released them on Friday and by Sunday, they’ve started fouls,” Jones said.
Beavers have helped Jones a lot in recent years. In 2022, England was hit by severe drought, which meant the grass was dry and many farmers had to feed livestock in winter because they had nothing to eat grass. Jones doesn’t have this problem. “We pumped water from beaver ponds, and in that bad drought we actually had more water in the pond than at any time – beavers built the dam higher because they were able to flow lighter with the stream.”
The claim about rodents’ ability to build flood-resistant infrastructure is not just Jones and other beaver enthusiasts. The latest report from government agencies is the Environmental Agency’s approach to preventing floods, suggesting the release of beavers. They can save money from the government, too – in the Czech Republic, the Beaver family recently built the dam itself. This infrastructure is meant to cost the government £1 million – Beaver does it for free.
Jones said more and more farmers need to join beavers. “Some farmers do put their heads on the beach. We do need to adapt to climate breakdowns and make our land more resilient. Storage of water is part of that – we can’t continue as we did before.”
“There are some farmers who will see this and have a heart attack. They will think I’m crazy. But first, it’s the land with the least agricultural value, and secondly, during the drought, they’ll be jealous because it’s the best grazing in town.”
The idea of a farmer bringing beaver to a quiet countryside disturbs some neighbors and angers others. But most have come. Jones has calculated that 10,000 people have visited his beaver since 2017 – where they all need accommodation, as well as bars for meals and drinks.
“We’re bringing the business to bars and villages. We’re not letting anyone be a millionaire, but the economy will certainly rise softly,” Jones said. “Some people absolutely hate my beavers, and there are some very serious dairy farmers who are getting angry with them because they occasionally fall down the trees. Also, to start with our neighbors, whose neighbors who run horses hate beavers, but then realize that when they see beavers on a bike, their customers are so happy that they realize that beavers are actually good for the business.”
Another benefit Jones Beaver brings to the local area is to alleviate flooding. “Our beaver area has a lot of water, and their leaky dams slowed down the flow and stopped flooding in the village. In 2013, it flooded twice in two months before we obtained the beaver. Ten years later, it really should only flood the flooding.” Bad river management – straightening the waterway, draining the water from land and denting it into the village below – exacerbating the problem.
Fans of Falmouth Oysters should also thank Jones and his beaver. “Enter the fence and you’ll see how much silt they store here,” Jones said. “The silt usually follows the river to the oyster beds in Falmouth Bay.”
They also made Jones happy. “Sometimes I go to the fence myself and sitting there at night is a really good thing, and I have some very close encounters – beaver is just me and just me and come straight to me. It’s fulfilling.
“I first saw beaver when I was in a cage behind Derek Gow’s van, preparing to introduce my farm,” he recalled. “It was just extraordinary.”
When they were released, Jones was delighted. “It feels like the most positive thing to do.”
The beaver quickly brought nature back to his farm. “I don’t know how fast they work, but we have 11 or 12 bird records, and now we have 11 bats, 17 dragonflies, and the size of the fish is increasing. When you see it happening in front of your face, it’s just extraordinary. They are the ultimate bringers of life.”
After the initial excitement, the progress of returning beaver to Cornwall was much slower than Jones expected. “We finally wanted to start something that ended with a Cornwall beaver. But it took longer than we thought, because Defra had been sitting for so long.”
Jones didn’t stop at the Beaver. He wanted to bring the stork back to Cornwall next. “I’m part of the Cornwall Stork Project and we’re trying to build some stork colonies across the country. They’re so fascinated that we’re here to provide them with a lot of food – frogs, toads, grasshoppers and worms.”
