Return of the beaver

Beavers were designated as a European Protected Species in May 2019. Since then, they have been making a comeback in Scotland.

Since 2009 we have been hosting the Scottish Beaver Trial. This has resulted in beavers being reintroduced, most recently, at a loch in Glen Affric in October 2025. 

The Scottish Government supports the expansion of the beaver population. It recognises that beaver populations need to be managed. Beavers may:

• cause problems for some land management activities such as farming
• disperse from our designated sites, as seen in Tayside. In this case we would liaise with our neighbours and consult NatureScot's Beaver Mitigation Scheme for expert advice

To combat this, in line with Scotland’s Beaver Strategy, we have a licence from NatureScot. This licence allows us to move beavers from areas where they’re affecting land management to sites on our national forests and land.

This work is carried out in accordance with the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations.

All work we carry out is based on advice and support from NatureScot.

We selected our first two release locations for two reasons:

• the high-quality habitat
• low potential for conflict with neighbouring land managers

Any further proposed release sites will be consulted at length with local communities.