CONCERN has been raised at the environmental impact of plans to introduce beavers to the banks of Loch Lomond.

As reported earlier this month, government body Nature Scot has granted the RSPB a licence to move beavers from Tayside in to the Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve (NNR).

The project is in line with Scottish Government policy to support the expansion of Scotland’s beaver population – but the plan has not been without opposition.

Local farmer and community councillor David Scott Park, from Portnellan farm on the south-east shore of the loch, said: “My biggest concern now is that there doesn’t seem to be a management plan, or idea of an end game.

“What level will the beaver population reach at the end of the day?

“They will cause damage to infrastructure and farms, but where it will happen, we will have to wait and see.

“Once the beavers are out of the box, nobody has any responsibility for them, it seems.

“There will not be compensation for damage, with only a possibility for some funding for mitigation measures.

“I am not wholly opposed to beavers and I am sure there are places for them, but we just need a more thought-out plan – it seems to be a suck-it-and-see approach.”

This will be the third new site approved for the release of beavers. The first reintroduction trial took place at Knapdale, in Argyll, in 2009, and was followed by Argaty, near Doune, last year.

RSPB Scotland welcomed the changes and in its application to Nature Scot, it said it wanted to provide a suitable site to translocate beavers which would otherwise be ‘lethally controlled’. It believed that beavers will enhance habitats and diversity of species, which also ties in with the Scottish Government’s biodiversity strategy.

Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species and land management at RSPB Scotland, said: “We are incredibly excited to be able to offer a home to these amazing animals. The Loch Lomond NNR is an ideal home for beavers with fen, open water and wet woodland habitat for them to explore.

“Beavers are nature’s wetland creators capable of creating and managing habitats in a way that we could never hope to achieve. We are looking forward to seeing the benefits that beavers bring to the wider biodiversity including amphibians, fish and wetland birds as well as our visitors who will, hopefully, see some of their engineering work over the coming years.”

Donald Fraser, NatureScot’s head of wildlife management, said: “Beavers are ecosystem engineers, creating habitats such as ponds and wetlands where other species thrive, as well as moderating water flows and improving water quality.

“In doing so, they play an important role in helping to restore biodiversity and respond to the climate emergency in Scotland. This decision will allow beavers to be trapped and removed from highly productive agricultural land, and introduced to an ecologically suitable site within their current natural colonisation range where they are expected to bring a range of benefits.

“We know that beavers can occasionally cause issues, and we recognise the concerns raised by some through the engagement process.

“We’re committed to working with RSPB Scotland, local communities and stakeholders to develop an effective monitoring and management plan that seeks to minimise any negative beaver impacts and maximise the benefits and opportunities of beaver restoration.”

NatureScot estimates that Scotland’s beaver population is around 954, with 254 separate territories.