Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00From the large to the small, every species plays a crucial part in the natural building
00:16blocks of our countryside.
00:18And all over the country, nature's grand design is waking up for spring.
00:48Today, I'm in East Devon, near the source of the River Otter, that slowly wends its
01:01way down to the English Channel.
01:07The river has long been a hub for human activity, but now another creature is beginning to make
01:12its presence felt here with its hard-working, busy lifestyle.
01:17It's the Eurasian beaver.
01:23This year marks ten years since the beginning of the River Otter Beaver Trial, England's
01:28first official pilot reintroduction of these animals.
01:34And this pioneering project has really made its mark.
01:37Just a few weeks ago, the government gave the green light to a licensing scheme which
01:42will allow beavers to live completely freely along England's waterways, for the first
01:48time in centuries.
01:51So where better to mark the moment than here, where it all began?
01:59Spring is a busy time for beavers, and we'd like you to see any sign of them.
02:04Can you see this break in the rushes?
02:06It's accessing forage habitat and moving around within their territories.
02:10I love that they make way for themselves.
02:13But sometimes, some careful steering is needed.
02:17If they'd completely stripped the bark all the way around, what we call ring barking,
02:20then that would kill the tree over time.
02:23This will be enough, it will send them off elsewhere to feed on other trees that you
02:27don't mind them having.
02:29And their impact on the landscape can be extraordinary.
02:33So this is an aerial photo from 2016, and then if we roll forward to 2025.
02:38Wow, what a change.
02:39And only a few beavers have done that.
02:43Along the way, we'll be looking back at some of Countryfile's most memorable reintroductions
02:48from the years gone by.
02:50So you just gently fling, almost like confetti, yeah.
02:54Right, so nothing over this side.
02:56What about you Pete?
02:58We've got eight cranes over here.
03:00Eight?
03:01Keep that quiet, hang on.
03:04Grab the tail nice and firmly in the middle.
03:06Am I going to get bitten?
03:08Hopefully not, if you do what you're told.
03:10So one says.
03:22Beavers were once widespread across the country.
03:26And their industrious nature would have helped shape our wetland landscapes.
03:33Until around 400 years ago, when they were hunted to extinction.
03:40But in 2015, Devon Wildlife Trust, along with other like-minded folk, began a trial project
03:47on the River Otter, with official permission from DEFRA, to reintroduce wild beavers to
03:53England.
03:54Ten years later, Dr Matt Holden is the project lead.
03:59And it's just had some huge news.
04:05Well Matt, you must be so thrilled that the government's given the go-ahead to the official
04:09reintroduction of beavers right across the country.
04:12Yeah, I mean, brilliant news, momentous moment for the recovery of beavers.
04:17We can really work with the potential of beavers.
04:19Then we've got this capacity to recover, you know, huge numbers of wetlands that we've
04:23lost across England.
04:24So, brilliant story for the recovery of wetlands and associated species.
04:30They may only be small, but as a keystone species, beavers can have a huge impact on
04:36an ecosystem.
04:39They can reduce flooding by slowing river flow and storing water upstream, improve water
04:44quality by filtering contaminants, and boost biodiversity by providing food and shelter
04:52for other wildlife.
04:56Are we likely to see any tracks that they've left around here?
05:00We will see tracks and signs, and I'll show you them on the pond where we've been monitoring
05:04their presence for the last couple of months.
05:08The pond was here before the beavers moved into this area five months ago.
05:13But they're already making their presence felt.
05:17Just in here we've got a trail, and you can see as it spans off down there, this is where
05:21they're coming out of the pond and down into the River Otter.
05:24Yeah, can you see this break in the rushes and this kind of slide?
05:28So, it's often tricky to find beaver footprints because they've got that lovely paddled tail
05:33that they slide over there.
05:34They cover their tracks.
05:36This is probably where they're coming down to the river.
05:39The river is what, how many yards away from here?
05:41I don't know, a hundred metres?
05:42A hundred metres, yeah, yeah.
05:44Then why would they want to come from this nice pond down to the river, or vice versa?
05:48It's just accessing forage habitat and moving around within their territories.
05:53I love that they sort of make way for themselves.
05:56Yeah.
05:57And what difference have they made to the river itself?
06:01What we see now is a number of thriving wetlands in parts of the headwaters.
06:05Obviously where we are today is just at the very early phases of beavers returning to
06:09this pond and this area.
06:10In other places we see these dynamic wetlands created from a series of dams holding back
06:16water and slowing the flow.
06:20These beaver-created wetlands can have a remarkable ecological impact on a river catchment.
06:27But the presence of beavers isn't always seen as a positive.
06:31Because it must be quite hard to convince a farmer whose land is being flooded because
06:37of the way that the beavers are manoeuvring the river that beavers are a good thing.
06:42Yeah.
06:43One of the things we find is some are totally enamoured by it.
06:46You know, it is variable.
06:47But some, you know, it's a real challenge to their business, their business model.
06:51And what we're working to do is provide funding and support for those people who are able
06:56to make space for beavers and create these once, you know, these lost wetlands essentially.
07:02Now ten years after the trial began, around 100 beavers are estimated to live on the river.
07:10But how the first ones came here is a mystery.
07:14Whisperings of beaver sightings long before the officially sanctioned project caught the
07:20attention of many locals, like volunteers Liz and Peter Shortland and Andrew Hickson.
07:27We live in Ottery St Mary, just not far away, and we were interested and intrigued when
07:33we heard the first rumours that there were beavers around.
07:36I went to lunch with a friend and she showed me a picture of a tree having been gnawed.
07:43No one knows for sure, but it's believed the original pair of beavers either escaped or
07:49were illegally released onto the River Otter.
07:53As they were thought to be invasive, plans were made to remove them.
07:59So how did you feel when there was news that the government wanted to get rid of them?
08:04Very disappointed and rather saddened that the natural creatures which were obviously
08:09developing and thriving were suddenly being removed and perhaps destroyed.
08:14That's why we got the petition to fight to try and keep them.
08:18Thousands of people shared their support and with lobbying from the Devon Wildlife Trust,
08:24the removal order was cancelled and England's first beaver reintroduction trial was born.
08:32More permission was given to protect and add to the existing clandestine population.
08:39We won.
08:40Yes, we won.
08:41There was a lot of local support and they triumphed.
08:45The trial was such a success that it became the blueprint for the beavers' recent change
08:50of fortune across England.
08:52It's amazing.
08:53We're so happy that the government have finally given the go-ahead to releasing them,
08:58you know, controlled releasing really.
09:00There could well be people like you, volunteers all over the country now, helping to boost
09:05the beaver population along our rivers.
09:07We'd like that, wouldn't we?
09:08Yes.
09:09We would like that.
09:10We've proven that you can live with beavers.
09:12Yeah.
09:13You can.
09:14And people can get so much fun and enjoyment helping the environment, helping the beaver
09:19population.
09:20Yeah.
09:21It keeps us oldies moving, you know, John.
09:24I know.
09:31And the project shows no sign of slowing down either.
09:36Let's just see what we've got.
09:38In fact, the team are introducing more beavers to the river, like the ones recently released
09:44onto this pond.
09:45So we use this to monitor their building activity on the lodge and sometimes we get really good
09:50feeding shots of them.
09:52They're certainly making themselves at home here, aren't they?
09:55And what would have happened had you not introduced these particular beavers?
10:01The real intention of this is to rent or limit interbreeding by bringing in different families
10:06of beavers from different places that have a different origin and therefore you've got
10:10a more diverse population.
10:11And we know that, you know, more diverse populations are typically healthier populations.
10:16Of course, you've done everything by the board here, but across the country there's lots
10:20of beaver releases which are totally illegal.
10:23Yeah.
10:24So I think what's really good about this recent announcement is it provides a policy framework
10:28in England for the reintroduction of beavers under licence and with consultation with stakeholders
10:34within the catchment.
10:35And that's been really core and centre to what we've done in Devon and we think it's
10:38really important for reintroducing healthy populations of beavers.
10:42Obviously, you've got one or two beavers scattered about that are released illegally.
10:46That's not a healthy founding population.
10:49And that's what we really want to support is, you know, doing this properly, supporting
10:53the restoration of a healthy, diverse beaver population in England.
11:01And later on, I'll be seeing how they make sure these ecosystem engineers don't become
11:07nuisance neighbours.
11:14You know, it's always rewarding to catch up with a project years down the line.
11:19It's one of my favourite bits of the job.
11:21And in 2018, Matt did exactly that when he revisited a reintroduction project with a
11:28very different success story.
11:34These are the Somerset Levels, a watery world where ditches, drains and rivers crisscross
11:39the land.
11:41It might look ordered, but this is a wild place.
11:45The wetland draws up to 100,000 overwintering birds at this time of year.
11:51This place is world famous for its bird life, but eight years ago, that fame shot sky high
11:58when a bird that used to live here hundreds of years ago was back on the scene.
12:05The common crane.
12:07It was driven to extinction in the 16th century through overhunting and loss of wetland.
12:13But through the Great Crane Project, the birds have returned.
12:17Back in 2014, staff were committed to raising their brood.
12:22From the moment of arrival.
12:25These are the most precious things that we've got.
12:28We literally have all our eggs in one basket, so to speak.
12:32To teaching the young cranes, well, how to be a crane.
12:36This is wonderful.
12:38And at four months old, they were released onto the Somerset Levels.
12:43When I left them, everybody involved were holding their breath, they were crossing everything,
12:48just hoping that the main aim of the project would be fulfilled.
12:52That those hand-reared chicks would go on to have little ones of their own in the wild.
12:58And I cannot wait to find out how they got on.
13:03Damon Bridge from the RSPB has been keeping a close eye on the birds ever since their release.
13:10So come on then, what's the latest?
13:11Well, the best news is that they have bred successfully in the wild.
13:15Brilliant.
13:16We've got 11 chicks now, which have been produced over the last three years,
13:20which have joined that founding flock.
13:22The thing that's most striking is that the birds have clearly learnt to be better at breeding.
13:28They've adapted and changed their nesting behaviour slightly.
13:31So there are pairs that this year might have been their third attempt at trying to breed successfully,
13:36but they've made it.
13:38And to think that eight years ago, there were no cranes in this area,
13:41and now you've got a population that's well and truly back.
13:45It's really special.
13:46I mean, particularly seeing the birds that we've reared with their own young
13:51and just behaving entirely like a wild parent crane should in rearing,
13:56tending very, very carefully to their chicks.
13:59And they've made fantastic parents.
14:01And that's so hard to imagine that that would have been possible from a chick
14:06that started life in an incubator and being reared by hand.
14:09So, yeah, it's quite remarkable.
14:142017 was the project's most successful breeding year yet.
14:20But even though the cranes are thriving,
14:22a dedicated team are still keeping a watchful eye over the flock.
14:29Volunteers have tagged the cranes with coloured rings to help identify them.
14:37It's not easy to spot the cranes in this landscape.
14:40Volunteers like Liz, Dai and Pete have got the patience
14:44and the keen eyes and ears that's needed.
14:50You can hear them now, can you?
14:52Listening in the distance over there.
14:54I always think they sound a bit like tuneful goose.
15:00Let's hope no goose are listening.
15:01THEY LAUGH
15:05Right, so nothing over this side.
15:06What about you, Pete?
15:08We've got eight cranes over here.
15:10Eight?!
15:12Keep that quiet. Hang on.
15:14Where am I looking, Pete?
15:16Just come straight down to the water.
15:19Straight down. Just the edge of the water.
15:21Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've got them. I've got them.
15:23Hello.
15:25Are they quite difficult to keep tabs on, then?
15:29Yeah, it's a very difficult spot, especially in long grass.
15:34You can hear them very often as well.
15:36And you're looking and looking and you just can't see them.
15:40And they're a big bird.
15:41You must get a great amount of satisfaction when you do sit here
15:45like this and you're looking at them there through your telescope
15:48and just watching them go about their wild business.
15:52Yes, yeah.
15:54It's a joy to be out here as well, isn't it?
15:56For sure.
15:58This is a real wildlife success story.
16:01And the descendants of the initial crane population
16:05now number around 126 birds
16:08across Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Dorset,
16:13with 2024 being a record year for fledgling chicks.
16:25All over the country, reintroductions of native species
16:29have paved the way for a wealth of biodiversity.
16:33But it's not all about wild creatures.
16:35There are projects to restore vital plant life as well.
16:40As Ellie found out back in 2022 when she visited the Solent estuary.
16:55Around our coastlines are all sorts of plants
16:58that have adapted to thrive, to tough it out in salty sea winds.
17:07But when it comes to climate change and helping to protect our planet,
17:12there is a plant found around the UK
17:15that has the ability to capture and store carbon
17:1935 times faster than tropical rainforest.
17:23But to plant it, you have to head out there.
17:29Seagrass covers just 0.1% of the seafloor.
17:33But despite that, this incredible plant
17:35absorbs up to 18% of all the ocean's carbon each year.
17:40It's the only type of flowering plant able to live in seawater
17:44and pollinate while submerged.
17:47Seagrasses often grow in shallow, sheltered areas along our coast,
17:51grouping together to create underwater meadows.
17:59But it's estimated up to 92% of this extraordinary habitat
18:03has disappeared from the UK's coastlines in the last century.
18:09Here in the Solent, they're helping to put it back.
18:12I've come to meet Fiona Crouch from Natural England,
18:15who's leading Remedies, the largest seagrass restoration project in England.
18:20Why are our seagrass meadows in trouble?
18:22What was the cause of their downfall?
18:25It kind of first started with a wasting disease.
18:28So, around the 1930s,
18:32it's been calculated that we lost about 44% of our seagrass meadows,
18:37and that hasn't really been able to re-establish,
18:40due to the impacts of also pollution and physical disturbance.
18:45What's the value of seagrass? Why go through all this trouble?
18:49It's a really important habitat.
18:51So, it provides shelter for species,
18:54such as pollock and place and herring.
18:57And then it's also an area for protected species,
19:01such as seahorse and stork jellyfish.
19:04And then, as you sort of move down, further down towards the sediment,
19:08the seagrass can capture and store carbon,
19:12which is really important as we talk about trying to combat climate change.
19:17Absolutely. It's the wonder plant.
19:19It is a wonder plant, yes.
19:23And to give this precious plant a helping hand,
19:26I'm joining around 40 volunteers
19:28at the Institute of Marine Sciences at Portsmouth University
19:32to create some seagrass seed bags that will be planted out at sea.
19:37Esther Farrant is the Education Officer for the Seagrass Restoration Project.
19:43OK, I've got my box-fresh lab coat on.
19:46Put me to work.
19:48What are we doing here?
19:50So, what you're going to need is one of our biodegradable Hessian sacks.
19:54And we'll need to add some of our sterilised horticultural sand.
19:57That's to ensure we're not introducing any microbes or bacteria
20:00that wouldn't be present in the seagrass meadow.
20:03And what that's going to act as is ballast.
20:05It's going to weigh down the bag onto the seabed and actually anchor it there.
20:09What's next?
20:10So, we need to add some fertiliser.
20:12Because this is sterilised sand,
20:14it's not going to have any of the nutrient profile that we need for the seeds.
20:17So, add a scoop of this.
20:19This is fish blood and bone.
20:21We just want to give it that extra boost.
20:23Much like gardeners would put fertiliser on their soils
20:26to just increase that nutrient profile.
20:28OK, that's all kind of jumbled up in there.
20:30Excellent. We need some seed.
20:32What type of seeds are these?
20:34These are Zostra marina seeds.
20:36Are there different types of seagrass?
20:38Yeah, there's about 58 different species.
20:41How did you get these? Where did you buy these seeds from?
20:43You can't just pop into a shop for these.
20:45We have to harvest them.
20:47And we harvest from favourable condition seagrass beds.
20:50So, there's been a lot of survey work carried out
20:53to ensure that we are harvesting from meadows that can withstand that pressure.
20:58How many am I putting in there?
21:00So, about a scoop. So, half a smidgen.
21:03Is that a scientific measure?
21:05Yes, it is. It's even written on the spoon.
21:07It's a scientific measure. A smidgen.
21:09I love that. OK, there we go.
21:11Yeah, pop them in.
21:13To restore one hectare of seagrass,
21:1520,000 of these little bags would be needed.
21:1912,000 of them will be coming with me today
21:22for the first phase of planting in the Solent.
21:33Once packed up and loaded onto the boat,
21:35we head out near the mouth of the Bewley River.
21:39I'm on board with the Ocean Conservation Trust
21:42Seagrass Cultivation Officer, Amelia Newman,
21:45who's in charge of planting.
21:49Why have you chosen this spot?
21:51Natural England modelling suggests
21:53that this is a really good area for seagrass.
21:55It's the perfect conditions with the water coming in
21:58and the river and also the sandy bottom.
22:01There's an awful lot of these seed bombs here.
22:04So, what's the process? How do you get them where you want them?
22:07These will be deployed down our drain pipes.
22:10So, we have two either side of this barge,
22:12so we can have a go, if you like.
22:14Yeah, let's have a go.
22:16So, we're putting one bag down every two seconds.
22:19So, one in, and then get the next one ready,
22:21and two seconds later, the next one goes down.
22:23And how many rows will there be in total?
22:25So, there'll be 15 lines, just like planting a field,
22:28we're going up and down.
22:30It's really important that once we're on the line,
22:32we just keep going.
22:33So much work that's got to this stage.
22:35I feel like I don't want to get it wrong,
22:37and I have huge gaps or plant them too close together.
22:39OK, start the line.
22:41One, and two, and...
22:50And so, once they hit the water, what's next?
22:54So, these pipes are taking them pretty much to the sand
22:57along the seabed,
22:59and then they'll start germinating with about two weeks.
23:02And actually, they'll come through the bag
23:04in about two months' time.
23:06What sort of success rate are you hoping for?
23:08Previously, we found about 7%,
23:10but we're hoping that what we've learned on land
23:14and the kind of little ingredients we've given them,
23:17that actually that will increase that,
23:19potentially, to 15 or 20.
23:22And in six months' time, these bags will be completely degraded.
23:26Hopefully, the roots would set right into the sand,
23:29holding that sediment,
23:31and start to be a habitat for lots of fish species.
23:34How are you going to protect it once it's established?
23:37We have plans to have a voluntary no-anchor zone,
23:40working with people who use the water,
23:43that's from yachtmen, fishermen,
23:45and discussing the importance of seagrass
23:48and why we need to continue to reduce the impact on the seabed.
23:52One line done.
23:54Yes, absolutely great.
23:57The Ocean Conservation Trust
23:59finished this particular restoration project in autumn last year
24:03and have successfully planted nearly 20 acres of seagrass
24:07across the Solent Maritime and Plymouth Sound conservation areas.
24:22Back on the River Otter,
24:24the Devon Wildlife Trust
24:26is making sure a pair of recently introduced beavers feel at home.
24:30But these busy, industrious animals can be stubborn
24:34and go, or gnaw, where they please.
24:36So Project Officer Bex Fraser
24:38has the task of making sure they don't outstay their welcome.
24:42This is a clear sign that there are beavers around, isn't it?
24:46Yes, it certainly is.
24:48We can see from the marks on the tree
24:50they leave quite distinct ridges with their teeth as they feed,
24:53so that makes us really sure this is beaver activity
24:55and not something like sheep grazing in the field.
24:58A bit ambitious for them though, isn't it?
25:00An oak tree. I thought they'd like willow.
25:02It's unusual for them to feed on such large trees.
25:05They tend to prefer browsing on smaller coppicing species
25:08like willow and hazel or small poplars along the watercourse.
25:13Beavers are nature's finest tree fellers
25:16thanks to their four chisel-shaped incisors.
25:19And if you're thinking a trip to a beaver dentist is in order,
25:22that orange colour is actually down to the high iron levels in their teeth,
25:27making them strong enough to cut through most trees.
25:31We do see them from time to time feed on things like oaks or beech
25:35or something like that, and so when that happens
25:37we can come along and do some protection
25:39with some weld mesh around the tree.
25:41Are you doing this here because a particular landowner
25:44has asked you to do it?
25:46Yes, sometimes we protect trees
25:48because they might be near particular infrastructure,
25:51properties or roads.
25:53Sometimes it's just because it really is a feature important tree.
25:56We always make sure we're not just fencing off all of their food source.
26:00Is their only food source vegetation?
26:03Yes, so they are completely herbivorous.
26:06They don't eat anything other than plants and trees.
26:09No fish?
26:10No fish at all. No.
26:12A lot of people mistakenly think they build their dams
26:14to trap fish behind them and eat them, but they don't eat fish.
26:17So through the winter when our green plant vegetation has died back
26:20they feed on the bark of trees
26:22and they only feed on that bark and cambium layer.
26:24So they just strip that top layer of the tree
26:27where the nutrients go through
26:28and then they leave the rest of the tree behind.
26:32Cambium is the nutrient-rich layer just under the outer bark
26:36which makes up the majority of their diet in the winter
26:40when foliage is sparse.
26:43If they'd completely stripped the bark all the way around
26:45what we call ring-barking, then that would kill the tree over time.
26:50So you don't secure it at all, you just wrap it round?
26:53In some places we might pin it into the ground
26:56if the beavers are particularly keen on trying to get through it.
27:00This will be enough.
27:01It will send them off elsewhere to feed on other trees
27:04that you don't mind them having.
27:05So is this kind of work a large part of your job then?
27:09It's a portion of it.
27:11We do also help landowners
27:13just by going out and providing advice and education
27:16is the first step
27:17and hopefully supporting them to be able to live alongside beavers.
27:20But we also do support with work alongside managing dams
27:24so that might be notching a hole in the dam
27:26just so the water level drops down
27:28or it might be removing an entire dam in some places.
27:31And the other option sometimes is putting a flow pipe through a dam
27:34which allows the dam to stay in place
27:36but it controls the water level behind it.
27:38And what's a beaver's reaction to you interfering with their work?
27:41Most of the time it doesn't bother them too much.
27:44We're very careful about how we do it.
27:46It's designed to sort of support the landowner
27:48but also allow the beavers to stay and continue to do what they do.
27:59Well, I've been very lucky to have been involved
28:02in quite a few reintroduction projects
28:04during my years on Country Farm.
28:07From bringing a red kite from Spain
28:09as part of their reintroduction here in the early 90s.
28:13Welcome to England.
28:21To witnessing the first beaver trial in Scotland 16 years ago.
28:26Well, that's a sight I've never seen before
28:28in the British countryside.
28:33To releasing the first captive bred native crayfish
28:37into wild UK waters back in 2013.
28:45The Yorkshire Dales.
28:47From the millstone grit peaks to the limestone pavements
28:50a landscape shaped over millions of years by ice and water.
29:00But for all its beauty
29:01there is an epidemic in the rivers, streams and becks of the Dales.
29:08This disease is crayfish plague
29:10and it's having a devastating effect.
29:14This is our native white clawed crayfish
29:17and its numbers are being decimated by the plague
29:20which was brought here by this, its American cousin
29:23the signal crayfish which has now invaded our streams and rivers.
29:28It carries the plague but it's not affected by it.
29:31And I'm not allowed to touch this signal crayfish
29:34for fear that I then contaminate this native crayfish
29:37and others that I'll be seeing for the rest of the programme.
29:45Imported in the 1970s as a food delicacy
29:48signal crayfish have quickly found their way around the country.
29:52In 1980 they were mainly in the south of England
29:55but fast forward and the population has exploded
29:59in all directions including north to the Dales.
30:05But there is a ray of hope.
30:07Today for the first time captive bred native crayfish
30:11are going to be released into the wild and we'll be there.
30:16Paul Bradley and Neil Handy were the first to successfully breed
30:20captive white clawed crayfish back in 2010.
30:24Now they're seeing the fruits of their labour.
30:29You were just starting back in 2010.
30:31What lessons have you learned, Paul, from this breeding process here?
30:34We've got a succession of tanks here
30:37and through monitoring water quality every month for two years
30:41we've found very slight differences in water quality through the tanks
30:45and they actually breed more successfully in the lower tanks
30:48where the water quality is just a little bit better.
30:51It's a small difference but it's significant.
30:53That enables us to find more appropriate sites to release them into
30:58and it also helps us to manage where the species is still hanging on
31:02and has a good prospect for survival as well.
31:05So what's the next stage now?
31:07What we're going to try and do today is put some of these back into a safe haven
31:11where they're going to be able to hopefully recreate their own population.
31:16Paul, what have you found in this sample then?
31:19We've got quite a diversity of life here, John.
31:21We've got stoneflies, we've got mayflies, indicative of good water quality
31:26so we can be reasonably sure that the crayfish are going to be happy
31:29amongst these kind of animals.
31:31Well this threat to our native crayfish is getting very serious, isn't it?
31:34We've got this crayfish plague.
31:36It's spreading through our native crayfish population
31:39and it seems to be eliminating entire populations from catchments.
31:43And are these signal crayfish doing other damage as well?
31:47They are doing enormous damage to fish as well, for example, to salmon and to trout.
31:53They seem to compete with them for shelter, dig out their eggs.
31:57There's one stream not too far from here where if you turn a stone
32:01you find three signal crayfish.
32:03Well clearly if a salmon goes under there they'll be attacked by a signal crayfish.
32:07And is there anything you can do to stop these invaders?
32:11Unfortunately, John, once they're in a river system we can't get them out
32:16so the best thing we can do is to try to prevent them actually getting into river systems in the first place.
32:24So this is it, the first captive bred native white-clawed crayfish
32:29to be introduced into the wild.
32:31Now you've got a life jacket on, Neil. Do I need one as well?
32:34So long as you don't get in the water.
32:36I've got mine on specifically if I have to get in the water.
32:39All right. I'll let you do the wading then.
32:42Here we are, John. This will be our first release site.
32:44Right.
32:45Just pop that down there.
32:46OK.
32:47I'll get it watered and if you can pass me them down.
32:49I will do.
32:50We'll put some in here.
32:51So what would you like? A big male first?
32:53Please.
32:54There we go.
32:56How many are we going to put down here?
32:58What we're doing here, we've got two males and four females.
33:01Right. OK.
33:02Two females to every male.
33:04And how can you sort of guarantee that somehow signal crayfish won't find this spot
33:10and do all your good work?
33:11We've chosen this site specifically because of the habitat
33:14but also because there's an impossible waterfall about a mile downstream.
33:18So that will be a big impacting factor on anything trying to come up.
33:21So signal crayfish can't get up here unless man actually physically brings them.
33:26It is actually against the law to release crayfish into a watercourse.
33:29So you've got a licence for this?
33:31I've got a licence and we, as the Environment Agency,
33:34will record all the data where these are going
33:37and then we can come back in six months' time
33:39and hopefully we'll find some of these females carrying up to 100, 128.
33:44Now, off you go little lady.
33:46Let's hope you stay safe.
33:53There she goes.
33:57Twelve years on and the crayfish plague continues to spread.
34:01The project's priority now is finding and protecting
34:05some of the country's most isolated populations of the white-clawed crayfish.
34:11There's nothing more special than being part of these rare animal stories.
34:16And Ellie experienced that same magic back in 2018.
34:26Exmoor National Park is a paradise for all sorts of species.
34:30But there's something special about it.
34:34Exmoor National Park is a paradise for all sorts of species.
34:39The mix of open hilly moorland, lowland heath, ancient woodland and wetlands
34:46is home to a rich array of wildlife,
34:49like the rare high-brown fertility butterfly,
34:53red deer and wild Exmoor ponies.
34:59But one animal that was once very common here
35:02has been missing for 30 years.
35:06You guessed, the water vole.
35:09And it's the same story throughout Britain.
35:12They were once a common sight in our rivers and watercourses
35:16but are now rarely seen.
35:19They suffered catastrophic losses after mink from fur farms
35:23were released into the wild back in the 1700s.
35:27And their numbers have continued to freefall,
35:30pushed out of their habitat by intensive farming practices
35:34and the loss of wetland, earning them the unenviable title
35:38of the UK's fastest declining land mammal.
35:43Their numbers are at an all-time low,
35:46but there is hope and I've got reason to be excited.
35:50I've come to the Honeycutt Estate, run by the National Trust,
35:54who've been reintroducing water voles across the 12,500-acre site.
36:00Hello. Hi there. How are you?
36:02I'm fine, thank you. It's a big day. Big day today?
36:05Rebecca Northey and her team have been behind a big breeding programme
36:09and are overseeing the release.
36:12It's a big day.
36:14So what's happening here? We've got a cage ready.
36:16Yes, this is the release pen.
36:18We're just popping some straw in it and some apple and carrots.
36:21Then the next step is actually to put the water voles inside.
36:24You just move the straw around really gently
36:26and what you want to do is expose the tail.
36:28So you want to keep the head covered,
36:30grab the tail nice and firmly in the middle,
36:32lift up the vole and then gently meet it with the tube
36:35so that you can support its weight
36:37because otherwise it will start to try and climb up its body.
36:39So support it.
36:41Am I going to get bitten?
36:43Hopefully not if you do what you're told.
36:45No one says that.
36:47OK, let's have a go.
36:55Just...
36:57Look at you, beauty.
36:59Freedom's coming.
37:01Oh, this is a beaut.
37:03I sense good things.
37:05Yeah, I love doing that. Thank you.
37:08The water vole release has already begun.
37:11By the end of next spring,
37:13300 of these endangered animals
37:15will have found a new home on the banks of the River Ala.
37:20It seems like such extraordinary lengths to have to go to
37:23to reintroduce water voles.
37:25Why are they so important in the ecosystem?
37:27They are a prey species,
37:29so so many other animals rely on them.
37:31For example, if you were a barnacle,
37:34and you're searching for a feed,
37:36if you were to catch a field vole,
37:38you're looking at about 60g of a meal there.
37:40A water vole can weigh up to about 300g,
37:42so if you think about that,
37:44that barnacle would have to hunt to find five field voles.
37:46All they need to do is catch one water vole.
37:50As well as being important prey species,
37:52their burrowing and feeding habits
37:54create the right conditions
37:56for other animals and plants to thrive.
37:58Their burrows provide home and shelter.
38:01So what do we do, just leave them here?
38:03Yes, so they're going to spend three full days
38:05enclosed in this pen,
38:07just basically to habituate to the area,
38:09get used to the sounds and the smells.
38:11OK, so the door stays closed?
38:13The door stays closed.
38:15This is the soft release?
38:17This is it, yes.
38:19This is our goodbye.
38:21It's been emotional.
38:23This release is only the beginning of the story.
38:25Ruth Hyatt is a volunteer
38:27and is checking for traces
38:29to see how water voles from recent releases
38:31are getting on.
38:33Oh, hi.
38:35Busy searching?
38:37Yes, searching for signs for the water voles.
38:39What are you looking for in particular?
38:41Well, we might hear them.
38:43That's a plop they make.
38:45Plop, plop into water.
38:47Plop, plop into water.
38:49Plop, plop into water.
38:51Plop, plop into water.
38:53And then there might be
38:55droppings around.
38:57Have you seen anything yet?
38:59We have found some of the
39:01vegetation here has been
39:03chewed in a particular way.
39:05They always eat them at an angle of
39:0745 degrees.
39:09That's a very distinctive piece, just there.
39:11There's quite a few bits here, so obviously
39:13they've been busy here.
39:15This is a good sign, isn't it? Because they've not been here long.
39:17They've only been here a week now.
39:19Just a week, so that's brilliant to find the signs.
39:21Excellent.
39:25Back on the
39:27waterside, it's time to release
39:29one lucky water-loving rodent.
39:31Each water vole released
39:33is one more chance
39:35to establish a viable population here.
39:39There it is.
39:41Freedom is yours.
39:43Look at that swimming!
39:45And freedom!
39:47Good job.
39:49There's still a long way to go
39:51before water voles are off
39:53the endangered list.
39:55But at Honeycutt Estate in Somerset,
39:57numbers are starting
39:59to revive, with recent surveys
40:01showing a dense population
40:03colonising a central area
40:05of the estate.
40:07And now let's find out what the weather is going to be like
40:09right across the UK
40:11in the week ahead.
40:13Here's the Country Fire forecast.
40:21Hello.
40:23Well, we've had the same area of low pressure
40:25in charge of our weather,
40:27both Saturday and Sunday, but actually
40:29the conditions have been vastly different.
40:31We've had the same amount of rain
40:33in the past few days,
40:35but actually the conditions have been vastly different today.
40:37There's been a lot of cloud around,
40:39some misty and murky weather conditions
40:41and it's been a lot colder as well.
40:43Yesterday's hot spot
40:45was in Pembrokeshire,
40:4719 degrees Celsius.
40:49Today it's been about 8 here
40:51and there have been some places on the North Sea coast
40:53that have only managed temperatures of around 7 degrees.
40:55Now looking at the jet stream pattern this week,
40:57we start off with a ridge.
40:59That's going to encourage an area of high pressure
41:01to be around about our shores.
41:03Later in the week we see a complete change
41:05in the jet stream pattern
41:07and we finish up with a trough.
41:09That's going to introduce an area of low pressure
41:11and so cloud and rain will tend to build
41:13as the week goes by.
41:15Now overnight tonight we're going to have
41:17extensive low cloud again coming in off the North Sea.
41:19Some mist and fog patches quite likely,
41:21a bit of drizzle around too.
41:23The clearest skies will be across northern areas
41:25where there'll be a touch of frost.
41:27A cold start to the day then for Scotland, Northern Ireland
41:29and Northern England,
41:31a lovely and sunny start to the day
41:33underneath this area of high pressure.
41:35The low cloud continues to feed in for a good time
41:37across central and eastern England
41:39with a bit of drizzle around.
41:41That should tend to fizzle later in the day
41:43and eventually we should see sunshine burning away
41:45those misty weather conditions.
41:47A weather front then arrives across the far north west
41:49of Scotland to finish the day.
41:51Now it's going to be a mild day
41:53and I think it's going to feel quite a lot warmer
41:55for most of us, especially where the sun comes out
41:57with temperatures up to 15 or 16 in the warmest spots.
41:59Then as we go through Monday, Tuesday
42:01we see this weather front sliding its way
42:03southwards. It is going to be weak
42:05as it runs through our area of high pressure
42:07and so a bit of rain pushed southwards
42:09overnight, Monday night
42:11Scotland and Northern Ireland. We pick up on that
42:13weak band of rain across England and Wales
42:15into Tuesday. Not much rain
42:17left on it but it will push its way southwards
42:19with then the clouds thinning and breaking behind
42:21that, some spells of sunshine returning.
42:23It stays on the mild side.
42:25Average temperature this time of year in London
42:27about 12 degrees so
42:2915 or about 3 degrees above average
42:31for this time of the year.
42:33On into Wednesday, probably quite a cold start
42:35to the morning with a few mist and fog patches around
42:37maybe a bit of morning frost as well
42:39but it should be a dry day for most areas
42:41with some sunshine. Late in the day
42:43we'll see clouds thicken for the Hebrides
42:45and Highlands with a threat of a little bit of rain
42:47here but otherwise mild
42:4915 degrees your top temperature in Belfast
42:51maybe a 16 in Newcastle
42:53and a 17 in the London area.
42:55Now towards the
42:57end of the week as our jet stream
42:59pattern changes we start to see
43:01low pressures form and move bands of
43:03rain into the UK. The main question
43:05mark is just how quickly
43:07this transition takes place.
43:09Now at the moment on Thursday it looks like we'll have
43:11the winds turning more to a west-south-westerly
43:13direction bringing quite a lot of cloud.
43:15A weak cold front brings a little bit of rain
43:17across England and Wales, not much on that
43:19and showers will probably tend to merge together
43:21to give some rain into
43:23north-west Scotland as we end Thursday.
43:25Our temperature is still on the mild side
43:27for most areas. Then for Friday we've
43:29got a more positive push
43:31of rain coming in across the UK.
43:33Now there is a question mark just how quickly
43:35this band of rain gets in. If it moves
43:37a bit more quickly then it might turn out to be
43:39quite a cool day but for the time being
43:41ahead of this system it looks like
43:43we could see some pleasant warm spells
43:45of sunshine, maybe temperatures getting
43:47as high as 15 or 16 degrees but it just
43:49depends how quickly that area of rain
43:51arrives on Friday.
43:53So some quite big changes going on with our weather
43:55this week.
44:05I'm in Devon catching up
44:07with the progress of England's
44:09first ever official Beaver
44:11reintroduction project.
44:13They're certainly making themselves at home here
44:15aren't they? And looking
44:17through the Countryfile archives
44:19at our favourite reintroductions
44:21of native species from the years gone by.
44:23Right so nothing over this side.
44:25What about you Pete?
44:27We've got eight cranes over here.
44:29Eight?
44:31Keep that quiet, hang on.
44:35Just last year Margarita
44:37helped release some of our smaller
44:39but no less important creatures
44:41into the wild in Somerset.
44:45Montacute House
44:47this estate is home to an
44:49abundance of wildlife.
44:51Now a new
44:53residence being introduced and
44:55despite the slow pace of this species
44:57and its endangered status
44:59its numbers are proliferating
45:01at a rapid rate.
45:09Roman snails were introduced
45:11to the British Isles by
45:13the Romans. Our largest
45:15snail species they can grow up to
45:174.5 centimetres in diameter
45:19roughly the same as
45:21a chicken egg and twice the size
45:23of the common garden snail.
45:27But in the 20th century
45:29their population fell dramatically
45:31and the 2008
45:33ban on killing or handling them
45:35failed to boost their numbers.
45:37Now
45:39an important breeding project
45:41is taking place in a garden
45:43on the edge of the Montacute House estate
45:45belonging to local enthusiast
45:47Michael Ratsey.
45:53So here's my little garden
45:55where the Roman snails live.
45:57How many snails are in this garden?
45:59There's thousands of snails in this garden
46:01but of the ones that I
46:03study there's at least
46:0540 of these
46:07protected Roman snails
46:09living loose in this garden.
46:11Would you like to see one?
46:13Shall we see if we can find one?
46:15Oh wow!
46:17That's a size!
46:19That one is
46:21a very large juvenile.
46:23That's a baby?
46:25That's a big baby.
46:27Roman snails are a rarity
46:29in South Somerset. These ones
46:31are descendants of some that Michael
46:33adopted during a trip to the Cotswolds
46:35as a teenager more than 50 years ago.
46:37So they've found
46:39their snail haven
46:41here and they're loving it.
46:43They're having a good life.
46:45As well as the snails living in his
46:47garden, Michael has 20
46:49breeding snails that he keeps in his
46:51house for research purposes
46:53and these specimens are a hungry
46:55bunch.
46:57Luckily, living so close
46:59to the grounds of Montacute provides
47:01Michael with a ready supply
47:03of snail snacks.
47:07So Michael, why have we come to this spot?
47:09Well, from about
47:11March through till this time
47:13of the year, depending on the weather,
47:15dandelion leaves is their preferred food.
47:17We've come here because
47:19they're really good and succulent
47:21and juicy. So how much do you have to pick?
47:23This year, in terms
47:25of my time, has not
47:27been great because we had such an early
47:29mild spring. They woke
47:31up from hibernation
47:33in February. Normally, I
47:35anticipate they wake up on
47:37the 4th of April. That's
47:39the average. But they woke
47:41early and they were
47:43really, really hungry. And so
47:45I was
47:47spending sort of seven hours
47:49a day. That's
47:51incredible. In March, three
47:53bags of that every day.
47:55So I was in a panic.
47:57A day? Yeah.
48:01You obviously
48:03you've got a real love for these creatures.
48:05Seven hours a day
48:07to feed them. Why, Michael?
48:09This is a question
48:11I've asked myself. Apparently,
48:13at the age of three,
48:15I started being
48:17interested in snails. I started
48:19to race them. I had a
48:21very isolated childhood
48:23on a farm. So I had brothers, but
48:25they weren't interested in snails or
48:27things like that.
48:29So we had to amuse
48:31ourselves in different ways.
48:33I love them so much
48:35because it's such a surprise to
48:37get up in the morning, on a dewy morning
48:39or a damp morning, and see one going across the garden
48:41path in its slow and peaceful way.
48:43But not everyone embraces
48:45them in the same way. Why should we
48:47perhaps look at them a little more
48:49kindly? Well, I think
48:51we need to learn to live with them
48:53in our gardens.
48:55They're important
48:57in the circle of life.
48:59They're food for other things, but
49:01they can also be helpful to us
49:03because they will eat the dead,
49:05dying stuff. If you take them
49:07more than 50 yards away,
49:09100 yards, and it's
49:11a suitable place for them,
49:13a wall or long grass
49:15or something like that, then
49:17they'll be quite happy there. They'll colonise
49:19that area. Last year
49:21was a really successful breeding programme.
49:23So my 20 researching
49:25snails produced 23
49:27clutches of eggs, so I had about 600
49:29babies. And
49:31I couldn't put them, release them all
49:33into my garden because the garden's just not big
49:35enough. And so where do we put
49:37them? The grounds of Montacute
49:39provide the perfect new home
49:41for Michael's snails.
49:43They need limestone,
49:45and our local stone here, hamstone,
49:47is a form of limestone.
49:49And the fact that they've successfully
49:51colonised the gardens,
49:53so I know they do really,
49:55really well in this area.
49:57Hamstone
49:59is the honey-coloured stone
50:01used to build Montacute House,
50:03and it's found in abundance in the earth
50:05here. Snails
50:07absorb calcium for their shells
50:09from the stone through the sole
50:11of their single foot.
50:13But before
50:15the next batch move to their Elizabethan
50:17pad, breakfast.
50:19These
50:21are last year's juveniles.
50:23Looking really
50:25good and big and healthy.
50:27Wow. Each individual
50:29behaves differently, and I
50:31can now almost predict
50:33which ones are going to wake up first
50:35in the spring, how active
50:37they're going to be. So they're like people.
50:39There's variety.
50:45Because of their rarity in Britain,
50:47Roman snails are a protected
50:49species.
50:53This is a
50:55really good spot for
50:57releasing Roman snails. Lots
50:59and lots of mixed vegetation.
51:01The stinging nettles, they
51:03really like, and I'm convinced that
51:05they will love it.
51:07Now
51:09a year old, they're ready for release
51:11at Montacute.
51:13Michael's chosen
51:15a spot that's off the beaten path,
51:17but with plenty of that all-important
51:19hamstone in the earth.
51:21Shall we move them in? Yes.
51:23So you just
51:27gently fling.
51:29Almost like confetti. Yeah.
51:31New home?
51:35How does it feel to move them in?
51:37In a way, it's a little bit sad
51:39because they've been with me
51:41since they were born.
51:43But
51:45looking into the future, I know it's a good
51:47thing. You know,
51:49I'm giving them a new start in life.
51:51So although you're saying farewell
51:53for generations to come,
51:55they should be part of this landscape.
51:57Absolutely, and I'm really happy for them.
51:59Michael's dedication
52:01to these rare snails
52:03is unrelenting, with this year's
52:05batch just starting to emerge from
52:07hibernation, ready for release
52:09in the summer.
52:20On the River Otter,
52:22I've seen how beavers moving in
52:24can bring benefits to the land,
52:26its wildlife, and local
52:28people. But the
52:30beavers' engineering prowess
52:32means their arrival isn't
52:34always welcome.
52:36I've travelled 20 miles
52:38downstream to Otter Farm.
52:40This tenant-run
52:42dairy farm is owned by the Clinton
52:44Devon Estate, and agricultural
52:46manager Sam Bryant-Jones
52:48has seen grazing land
52:50being lost to nature's civil
52:52engineers. It's something
52:54that initially we
52:56put up some resistance to.
52:58The beavers travelled upstream from our neighbours.
53:00Initially we did what we could
53:02to resist their advances.
53:04One thing we've learnt is that they're very persistent,
53:06and eventually
53:08they won the battle, as it were.
53:10They established themselves, and at that point
53:12we decided it was fair that we should take a step
53:14back and let them settle.
53:16So your dairy cows
53:18used to graze around here, did they?
53:20They did, John, until about four years ago.
53:22And now there are really
53:24only perhaps a few
53:26weeks of the year where we can get onto
53:28this area with the cows.
53:30We're stood on a bridge that used to
53:32go over the old brook, and
53:34the beaver engineering in front of us
53:36has diverted the brook around
53:38to our left, and
53:40subsequently made this
53:42whole area really quite wet.
53:44Are you getting any compensation for it?
53:46We've been successful in securing
53:48some FIPL funding, Farming and Protected Landscapes,
53:50and that was a two-year programme
53:52that comes to an end this March,
53:54but we have nothing secured beyond that.
53:56Here, on this farm, we are
53:58quite lucky. It takes up a relatively
54:00small percentage of our farm,
54:02and we can afford to accommodate them here
54:04in terms of it doesn't massively
54:06affect the rest of our farming practices.
54:08However, on a different
54:10farm, where this might be
54:12high-end vegetable production land,
54:14it could lead to large
54:16issues with soil erosion, and actually have a
54:18real negative impact on the bottom line of that farming business.
54:20So it's something that we were initially
54:22quite resistant against,
54:24but subsequently, now that it's here,
54:26and it's matured, it's actually something we're quite proud of.
54:28In some ways, returning the landscape back to
54:30what it would have been.
54:32The estate ended up
54:34as important partners of the beaver
54:36trial on the River Otter, together
54:38with the Devon Wildlife Trust.
54:40It's hard to get an idea
54:42from the ground just how much
54:44the beavers have changed the land here.
54:46But Dr. Alan Puttock
54:48from Exeter University,
54:50the final key partners of the project,
54:52can provide the bigger picture.
54:54Well, I recognise this piece
54:56of kit, Alan. Oh yes, absolutely.
54:58Hi John, good to see you. A drone. I mean, we had
55:00them on Countryfile for getting beautiful aerial
55:02shots. What do you use it for?
55:04So I'm going to use it today to survey this
55:06beaver wetland that's over there in the fields.
55:08We come out every season,
55:10undertake drone surveys to look at how
55:12the site's changing, the habitat that's been created,
55:14the water that's been stored within the site,
55:16and that allows us over time to monitor
55:18the change at the site as a result of this beaver engineering.
55:20Let's get it up then.
55:26It's now probably around 10% covered
55:28by surface water. From our last
55:30survey, we calculated there's probably around
55:3212 million litres of water being stored within this site.
55:34Wow.
55:38If you can just hold that for me.
55:40Right.
55:42So this is an aerial photo from 2016.
55:44And as you can see, it's a series of fields,
55:46again, quite what you might think of as a typical
55:48farmed landscape. Yeah.
55:50And then if we scroll forward to
55:522025. Wow, what a change.
55:54And only a few beavers have done that.
55:56This would be one family of beavers that's done that.
55:58And because they create
56:00this amount of flooding, I mean,
56:02that can be quite useful, can't it,
56:04in flood control. Absolutely.
56:06What we typically have in our modern landscapes
56:08is the water flashing off the landscape too quickly
56:10following storm events, causing those flood issues downstream.
56:12By holding water within sites like this,
56:14we reduce that downstream flood risk.
56:16And our data from the River Otter
56:18trials has shown significant reductions
56:20to downstream flood risks as a result
56:22of beaver wetlands such as this.
56:24There's a lot of talk now about the effect
56:26on land management of beavers.
56:28But what about biodiversity?
56:30How important are they for that?
56:32I think they're absolutely vital.
56:34A lot of our species are declining.
56:36Wetlands are one of our most important habitats.
56:38They're one of the habitats
56:40that's been lost most globally.
56:42And beavers are, if you like,
56:44the epitome of this ecosystem engineer
56:46which can return wetlands to our landscape.
56:48We've shown at other sites in the River Otter
56:50that their water voles return into these beaver sites,
56:52creating these, again, complex habitats
56:54that other species, such as the water vole,
56:56can benefit from.
56:58Now, the plan is for almost any
57:00area of the River Otter,
57:02the plan is for almost any
57:04waterway in England
57:06to have beavers if it's approved.
57:08The key thing is if approved,
57:10like you said. So it's not like beavers
57:12will be returning everywhere rapidly.
57:14There will be very strict licensing conditions.
57:16We'll be looking at where beavers
57:18can bring benefits back, where those
57:20management challenges can be appropriately
57:22handled.
57:24And is there any danger that we might get too many beavers,
57:26making too big a change
57:28to the landscape?
57:30I don't think so in any short term
57:32or even the longer term, just because there are
57:34such strict licensing requirements.
57:36It really is this cautious release.
57:38We won't be seeing beavers everywhere
57:40in our landscapes any time soon.
57:50And that's all we've got time for from Beaver Country
57:52here in Devon. Next week,
57:54Matt and Margarita will be on the
57:56Waterquest line, which runs through
57:58the natural landscape of Hampshire.
58:14Look at this place.
58:16It's unbelievable.
58:18I've never been in one of these before.
58:20Have you tried this, Margarita?
58:22Just wait for it to come in.
58:24You get that little fiery kick.
58:26Oh, I love that.
58:28That's next week at quarter past five.
58:30So, hope you can join us then.
58:32For now, goodbye.
58:40From a bothy to a bunkhouse,
58:42the judges are looking for Scotland's
58:44greatest escape. Press red to watch now
58:46on iPlayer.
58:48Here on BBC One, the extraordinary animals
58:50that live in the rainforests of the Americas.
58:52The stunning new series continues next.