Community support builds for wild beavers
As community support builds for Devon’s wild beavers, an oil painting of a Devon beaver has raised £700 for Devon Wildlife Trust’s work to keep the animals on the River Otter.
The canvas, by renowned east Devon wildlife artist Emma Bowring, was donated to the charity’s Devon’s Wild Beavers fundraising appeal. Support has also been forthcoming from Ottery St Mary schools, Exeter businesses – and even TV presenter Chris Packham.
The aim of the appeal is to keep the wild beaver population on the River Otter by securing a licence from the government for a five- year monitoring project to assess the beavers’ impact on local landscapes, wildlife and communities.
Almost as soon as Emma’s painting, entitled Eager beaver, was donated to DWT, a buyer was found, resulting in a generous donation of £700 from the artist. Emma said: “I’d seen on the news the story about the work Devon Wildlife Trust is doing to try and secure the future of the River Otter beavers. I read on the DWT website about the proposed five year monitoring project and the need to raise funds to make it happen - and I wanted to do something to help.”
Many of Emma’s animal paintings are of overseas wildlife but she did have one work that proved to be a perfect fit. Emma continued: “A couple of years ago I did a painting of a beaver in Devon, using a photograph taken at Escot given to me by photographer Ben Lee. I put the painting into BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year 2012 and it made it to the finals, and then I haven’t put it into any further exhibitions since. So when I found out about DWT’s work to keep the River Otter beavers in the wild, I wanted to donate the painting to raise funds.”
Another local business was also inspired to donate to help the beavers. Exeter-based environmental recruitment website, environmentjob.co.uk donates a percentage of their profits to nature and environment charities. Employees are given the opportunity to choose the recipient charity for their own proportion of the company’s donation.
Rachel White from environmentjob.co.uk explained her choice: “Being based in Exeter we had been following the River Otter beaver story for a while. We jumped at the chance to be able to help fund a first-of-its-kind research project into this native mammal and how they can benefit the UK ecosystem.”
Meanwhile local schoolchildren in Ottery St Mary have been getting creative to show their support for the beavers. Children at West Hill Primary performed their own version of Band Aid’s Christmas hit with new lyrics about the plight of the River Otter mammals featuring a rousing chorus of ‘Save the beavers’! At Ottery St Mary Primary, 60 year four pupils dressed in beaver costume to give a presentation in assembly about why they thought the animals should stay.
DWT’s Dan Smith said the community initiatives had taken off recently, following on from the charity’s work to engage local people regarding the beavers’ future. “Devon Wildlife Trust has been talking to residents and landowners in the Otter valley all year. We’ve been asking people what they think the future of the beavers should be and setting out our plans for a five year monitoring project. In August, 200 people at a public meeting in Ottery were overwhelmingly in favour of the beavers remaining on the river and of DWT’s plan to create England’s first wild beaver trial here in east Devon.”
Dan added: “Consultation with local landowners and residents has been part of our drafting of the licence application to Natural England to begin the monitoring project – and this two-way engagement with the community will continue. The fundraising support we’re seeing now is the next step – though in a way it’s also just the beginning of an exciting journey.”
Submitted in October, DWT’s licence application is still being considered by Natural England, with one of the remaining questions being about the funding required for the project to go ahead. DWT has set a fundraising target of £54,000 by the end of the year to begin the first phase of the five-year wild beaver trial.
The fundraising appeal was given a high profile boost at the weekend by Chris Packham. The TV wildlife presenter used social media to highlight the appeal to his 112,000 Twitter followers.
Dan Smith said: “It was fantastic to see Chris’s support – he’s been such a passionate advocate for wildlife for so many years and his fans responded with a flurry of donations. We’re now two-thirds of the way towards our fundraising target after just four weeks – so we’re getting closer to securing a future for the River Otter beavers.”
The presence of these animals might even influence artistic tastes. Dan added: “Emma Bowring told us that the most popular British animal for her commissions is the otter. If the government grants Devon Wildlife Trust the licence to keep Devon’s beavers in the wild, perhaps Emma will begin receiving requests for beaver paintings.”
Emma Bowring’s wildlife art can be found online at http://www.emmabowring.co.uk and the Devon’s Wild Beavers fundraising appeal at http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/devons-wild-beavers-appeal/
