Bart Schultz
In a previous contribution to Flevolands Geheugen, I described the advance of beavers in the polders in the Netherlands. Since then, the Foundation for Applied Water Management Research (STOWA), through the Kenniscentrum Bever (Beaver Knowledge Hub), has been organizing an annual symposium on beavers. Recently, the fourth symposium was held at Antropia, Culture and Congress Centre in Driebergen. The symposium was attended by a considerable number of interested persons.
Following introductions on Beavers in the Netherlands: Past, Present, and Future, the National Beaver Approach, and Beavers in 2050: Scenarios from the Field, respectively, various specific topics were explored in more detail in a number of workshops in smaller groups. I participated in the workshops concerning the Monitoring Task in the National Approach and Working with Codes of Conduct Now and in the Future. It was another interesting meeting, which showed that the beavers are keeping us quite busy these days.
After the last beaver in the Netherlands died in 1826, a new group of beavers from Germany was released into the Biesbosch in 1988. This group has since grown and spread rapidly across the country. Among other things, this has led to a significant risk for various dikes in the Netherlands with all the potential consequences that entails.
An advisory report containing proposals for a National Beaver Approach has now been produced. Furthermore, work is underway on work packages, including the development of risk maps. Codes of conduct regarding the management of beavers have also been adopted and are being applied in practice. The Environment and Planning Act, which entered into force on January 1, 2024, serves as the guiding principle in this regard. It is also important to note that the beaver is a protected species under the European Habitat Directive and plays a significant role in our ecosystem. This is in contrast to the muskrat, which is considered an invasive species and may therefore be controlled.
Maintenance work on water management systems and flood protection provisions must now be carried out partly on the basis of the beaver protocol. Various measures have also already been taken to prevent beavers from engaging in unsuitable activities as much as possible. This includes, on the one hand, the actual prevention of damage to banks and dikes - for example, by burying vertical meshes in the banks - but also the creation of high-water refuges in river forelands. Examples of this were also shown.
From the above, it can be deduced that developments regarding beavers in the Netherlands have accelerated rapidly since 1988. It is currently estimated that there are approximately 7,000 beavers. Various possibilities for further growth were indicated during the symposium, but it proved difficult to make a reasonably certain prediction, as quite a few factors play a role in this.
I will therefore continue to follow developments with interest. Not least because there are significant risks, particularly in connection with flood protection. During the symposium, examples of direct damage were presented. These consist mainly of damage to vegetation, banks, and dikes. However, during the discussions, it was also pointed out from various perspectives that consequential damage, especially in densely populated polders, could be many times greater if a dike breach around such a polder would indeed occur due to beaver activity. Let us hope that this can be prevented through a proper approach.
