Nice beavers in Scotland

Writing on the Guardian's Comment is Free site, Mike Small excitedly reports that it was announced earlier this week that beavers are to be reintroduced into Scotland.

If you follow the link to the Scottish Wildlife Trust site you came across a press release (pdf format) that shows the position is not quite so clear cut:

Nearly two years after the first proposal by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) for a trial reintroduction of beavers to Scotland was rejected, two leading Scottish conservation bodies; the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) welcomed the news that Mike Russell MSP, Environment Minister, is considering returning beavers to Scotland.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors programme, the Minister revealed that he would like to “make a decision this year and if at all possible, I’d like to make sure it [a trial beaver reintroduction] happens.”

Still, I hope that Russell does come down in favour of beavers. Small quotes the Trust's chief executive, Simon Milne, as saying:

"The beaver is a keystone species whose reintroduction can bring benefits to the countryside including improving the ecology of wetland habitats and associated birds, insets fish, reducing downstream flooding and improving water quality."

Small also decribes the possible reintroduction as "another example of a post-Labour change of mood music".