Beavers released in Devon were allowed to stay after a trial found they helped the environmentThe government’s plan to “build back beaver” by releasing the animals into the wild is being blocked by Thérèse Coffey’s department, conservationists claim. The environment secretary said last week that beavers were not essential to meeting the global biodiversity targets the UK helped to set last year. Sponsored“For what it’s worth, I think there are more important things than beavers,” she told a meeting of bankers and insurers in London. • I went on a beaver safari... one thing went wrongBoris Johnson said in 2021 that the UK would “build back beaver” as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consulted on the issue. Defra gave beavers enhanced legal protections last year, seen as a key step in paving the way for

Source: The Times June 26, 2023 11:53 UTC