An expensive river restoration project in the Czech Republic has been made obsolete by local beavers, who have restored the area’s fragile landscape for free.
Over four years, beavers constructed multiple dams along a river system in the west of the country, helping to divert water beyond the riverbanks and create a thriving wetland ecosystem.
“A project was planned to restore the Klabava River, but the beavers beat us to it,” said Bohumil Fišer from the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic.
“The estimated cost of such a project would have been 30 million Czech koruna (€1.2 million).”
The beavers built at least five dams along the river’s canals near the Lower Padrť Pond, along with two more downstream, allowing water to spread into the surrounding landscape.
Fišer estimated that around ten beavers, likely from the nearby Skořický stream, now form one or two families in the area.
Wetlands are crucial to many ecosystems as they often improve water retention, form breeding grounds for amphibians and naturally filter the water.
“A project was planned to restore the Klabava River, but the beavers beat us to it,” said Bohumil Fišer from the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic.
“The estimated cost of such a project would have been 30 million Czech koruna (€1.2 million).”
The beavers built at least five dams along the river’s canals near the Lower Padrť Pond, along with two more downstream, allowing water to spread into the surrounding landscape.
Fišer estimated that around ten beavers, likely from the nearby Skořický stream, now form one or two families in the area.
Wetlands declining across the globe
Wetlands are crucial to many ecosystems as they often improve water retention, form breeding grounds for amphibians and naturally filter the water.
But research shows that such landscapes have declined significantly, mainly due to land being drained to grow crops.
A paper published in the highly respected journal Nature in 2023 estimated that 21% of the planet’s wetlands have disappeared since 1700, with the process accelerating in the 20th century.
The Eurasian beaver, considered a crucial species in habitats from western Europe to Mongolia, was hunted to near extinction in many European countries but is now flourishing again, with its population reaching around 1.5 million in 2020.
Conservationists laud the mammal’s contribution to the ecosystem, but the species’ relationship to humans can be fraught at times.
Last year, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed the animals and their dams had contributed to large-scale flooding in western Poland.
But experts speaking to TVP World dismissed the PM’s claim, saying that “generally, in normal conditions, beavers prevent flooding.”
A paper published in the highly respected journal Nature in 2023 estimated that 21% of the planet’s wetlands have disappeared since 1700, with the process accelerating in the 20th century.
The Eurasian beaver, considered a crucial species in habitats from western Europe to Mongolia, was hunted to near extinction in many European countries but is now flourishing again, with its population reaching around 1.5 million in 2020.
Conservationists laud the mammal’s contribution to the ecosystem, but the species’ relationship to humans can be fraught at times.
Last year, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed the animals and their dams had contributed to large-scale flooding in western Poland.
But experts speaking to TVP World dismissed the PM’s claim, saying that “generally, in normal conditions, beavers prevent flooding.”
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