Current status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with countries that have successfully reintroduced species when considering whether to allow the reintroduction of beavers to Scotland.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has had extensive and wide ranging discussions with numerous beaver specialists and managers, country agency staff and academics over the 21 years since it started investigating beaver reintroduction issues.
This has resulted in the development of a wide network of specialists from across North America and Europe that the Scottish Government can now draw on for advice. Much of the advice provided so far has been incorporated within a range of publications produced by SNH, which can be viewed at www.snh.gov.uk/beavers-in-scotland. This includes the substantial ‘Beavers in Scotland’ report published by SNH in 2015.