Beavers build planned dams in protected landscape area, while local officials still seeking permits

Beaver

A beaver colony in the Brdy region has gained overnight fame by building several dams in the Brdy protected landscape area, creating a natural wetland exactly where it was needed. It saved the local authorities 30 million crowns, and has the public cracking jokes about public administration and red tape.

Natural dams created by beavers in Brdy | Photo: Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic

The administration of the Brdy protected landscape area, which had gained approval for the 30 million crown project, was dealing with red tape and seeking the respective building permits from the Vltava River Basin authorities when the dam project was completed almost overnight by a local colony of beavers.

They could not have chosen their location better –erecting the dams on a bypass gully that was built by soldiers in the former military base years ago, so as to drain the area. The revitalization project drafted by environmentalists was supposed to remedy this. Bohumil Fišer, head of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area Administration says Nature took its course and the beavers created the necessary biotope conditions practically overnight.

Natural dams created by beavers in Brdy | Photo: Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic

"The Military Forest Management and the Vltava River Basin were negotiating with each other to set up the project and address issues regarding ownership of land. The beavers beat them to it, saving us CZK 30 million. They built the dams without any project documentation and for free. "

Zoologist Jiri Vlček said the local administration was no competition for the beaver colony.

"Beavers are able to build a dam in one night, two nights at the most. While people have to get building permits, get the building project approved, and find the money for it. But of course a digger working on his own could build it in about a week."

Natural dams created by beavers in Brdy | Photo: Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic

Environmentalists who inspected the work say that the wetland and pools that the beavers created,  will offer good conditions for the rare stone crayfish, frogs and other species that thrive on wetlands.

Jaroslav Obermajer | Photo: Martin Čuřík,  Czech Radio

"Beavers always know best. The places where they build dams are always chosen just right - better than when we design it on paper," said Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemian office of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency (AOPK).

At least one European beaver family of about eight members lives in the area. There are others in the vicinity of Nové Mitrovice or Hořehled.

According to AOPK spokeswoman Karolína Šůlová, beavers have contributed positively to water retention in other areas in the past. However, it occasionally happens that what suits them is not in the interests of humans. For example, in the vicinity of Lanškroun in the Orlickoústec region, beavers inadvertently flooded fields and waterlogged a nearby railway line.

Author: Daniela Lazarová | Source: Český rozhlas