Taxacom: Government Scraps Construction Project After Beavers Finish The Job Themselves

[John Grehan]

Apologies that this is not a taxonomic item, but thought it might be of
general interest. Not often one hears about saving money for conservation:

"For 7 long years, a land revitalization project had been underway in the
Brdy region of the Czech Republic. Decades earlier, the military had built
a bypass ditch along a nearby river, draining what was once a lush wetland
home to numerous native species — and environmental officials hoped to set
things right. However, after years of review, planning and difficulties
securing permits, the project to restore the wetlands made little progress.
And at final count, its budget had ballooned to 30 million Czech korunas —
around $1.2 million (USD).

But then a group of leathery-tailed locals stepped in gnaw through all that
red tape. According to the Brdy Protected Land Administration (PLA), which
was spearheading the project, a family of beavers was found to have
constructed dams along the bypass ditch, and in pretty much the same spots
human constructions were planned.

And they were able to do it all in a matter of days — kicking off the
wetland restoration process all on their own.

“The beavers beat [us] to it, saving us CZK 30 million,” Fišer said. “They
built the dams without any project documentation and for free." Beavers are
incredibly quick workers, capable of building large dams in a short amount
of time. These constructions, and the ponds they form, are vital for
numerous wetland species — no human intervention needed.