Proposal re Beavers at Argaty

Mar 16, 2021

Tom Bowser from Argaty Red Kites recently made several presentations about a project they are working on, which is a proposal to introduce beavers to the upper reaches of the Ardoch, at Argaty.  Beavers are known to already be on the Teith, regularly passing Doune, and are expected to move up the Ardoch in coming years. This being the case this project is considered as a translocation rather than a reintroduction.

Tom says, “Beavers are a keystone species, scientifically proven to boost biodiversity. Their wetlands store carbon and help mitigate against downstream flooding. At present beavers are being culled in Tayside. As they can help so much in our current environmental crisis the Scottish Government has indicated that it would consider translocating beavers from conflict sites to areas where beavers are already within range. Given their amazing impact upon the environment we are keen to bring them to Argaty and spare some animals from being needlessly killed.”

So far these proposals only reached specialist audiences (Climate Action Group, Kilmadock Community Council).  Tom is not seeking approval – the decision will be made by Scottish Nature – but Tom Bowser and the KCC would like to make the information about the project available to the wider community.   To view the presentation, which is via a Zoom meeting, click on the link here and enter the passcode G2?6Z3j# if requested.  Then skip to the 16th minute of the presentation (it is about an hour long).