Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Forestry England are surveying land in the Severn Vale to assess whether beavers could be reintroduced there, arguing the animals could boost biodiversity and make the landscape more resilient to drought and climate change. Campaigners describe beavers as "ecosystem engineers" whose dam-building creates ponds and wetlands that support a wide range of other species, and the government's environment department (Defra) has backed the principle, saying it could make a "huge difference to nature recovery." Beavers are native to England but vanished from the west of the country roughly 400 years ago after being hunted for food and medicinal use.

Any new reintroduction would need a government licence, and studies and consultations with local landowners and land users are already under way. The plan follows the success of an existing beaver enclosure at Greathough Brook in the Forest of Dean, in place since 2018, where surveys have recorded a marked rise in biodiversity, including sightings of stoats, weasels and pine martens. England has so far had three licensed beaver releases, with around 100 more animals expected to be released this year.