Beaver management

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The successful reintroduction of beavers leads to conflicts in coexistence with humans.
Beaver dam in the Liesing near Unterlaa
Beaver dam in the Kössein

Beaver management describes a discipline in nature conservation within the framework of wildlife management , which is often practiced by so-called beaver advisors . Your task is to resolve conflicts between agriculture, forestry and water management and the strictly species-protected beaver in the living and economic space used by both sides and to help balance interests. For this purpose, the main instruments used are advice, prevention, compensation for damage, but in extreme cases also the capture of beavers from particularly problematic areas or isolated killing.

initial situation

The European beaver , which was strongly pushed back in Europe in the 19th century, was reintroduced into the wild in the second half of the 20th century, mainly in Bavaria and Austria . This was so successful that the population in Switzerland is around 400 to 500, in Austria around 1600 (2003) to 2000 (2007), in Germany around 20,000 and in Europe around 800,000 animals in total (2006)

According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act (in Germany) and the European Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive , the beaver is strictly protected, among other things, the animals may not be caught or killed and their dams and structures are neither damaged nor destroyed. In the case of damage caused by beavers, there are only very limited exceptions to these provisions.

Problems

Tree damage caused by beavers on the Lech near Sandau in Upper Bavaria

After the successful resettlement and the surprisingly rapid expansion of the beaver populations, there have been increasing conflicts between the animals and the human users of cultivated landscapes since the mid-1990s .

Typical problems caused by beavers are damage to crops or trees, the undermining of riparian properties and flood damage caused by beaver dams. In addition, fish in winter ponds are worried.

While the damage to grain, sugar beet, maize and rape or even some types of vegetables is mostly in areas tolerated by the farmers, damage to timber or fruit trees is usually more materially serious. Dam breaks and undermining of usable areas by buildings can also lead to accidents and personal injury.

Legal situation

Hunting law

The beaver does not belong to the species that are subject to hunting law; it is not listed in the list in Section 2, Paragraph 1 of the Federal Hunting Act. The federal states would be empowered to determine additional animal species by state law, but have not made use of this in the case of the beaver. In those cases in which this has been considered in individual countries, a year-round closed season should always be set at the same time.

Conservation law

The beaver is listed in Appendix II and Appendix IV of the Habitats Directive of the European Union. This means that the population of this species should be promoted through special protected areas and protection programs. In addition, all occurrences of the species outside of protected areas must be protected. All species with this protection status are automatically "strictly protected" species under the Federal Nature Conservation Act (Section 3 "Special Species Protection"). They must not be caught or killed with it. Their habitats are also automatically subject to special protection, even if they are outside of protected areas. It is also prohibited to hold, buy, sell, possess, or display commercially without special permission.

The Lower Nature Conservation Authority can, upon request, permit exceptions to these regulations, including “to avert significant agricultural, forestry, fishing, water or other significant economic damage” (Section 45 (7) No. 1 BNatSchG). Nationwide regulations have often been enacted for this in order to save the authorities from having to re-examine each individual case. These are an essential part of beaver management. In the federal state of Bavaria (with the highest beaver density nationwide) “authorized persons are generally allowed to catch or kill beavers in certain damage and safety-relevant areas in the period from September 1 to March 15, due to the exception ordinance under species protection law”. This applies e.g. B. at sewage treatment plants or flood protection dams, possibly z. B. also on fish ponds, roads and paths accompanying watercourses or artificial drainage ditches. There are comparable regulations in other federal states. Beavers to be removed are usually not shot, but caught with box traps (live traps).

Solution approaches through beaver management

The already existing, scattered individual measures for prevention or compensation payments in the event of damage have been brought together in a central beaver management system since 1996, for example in Bavaria. The lower nature conservation authorities at the district administrative authorities are responsible. Local beaver advisors are often voluntary nature conservationists who are trained and supported in Bavaria by two full-time beaver managers from the Federal Environment and Nature Conservation Germany .

On the Elbe and in Hesse, a voluntary “beaver care network” is responsible for conflict management, but also for data acquisition and population mapping.

In Austria, Lower Austria was the first federal state in which beaver management was introduced in 2002/2003. In Switzerland, the “Beaver Switzerland Concept”, initiated by the Federal Office for the Environment, came into force in 2004. It coordinates beaver protection at national level and authorizes the removal of individual beavers and their relocation and reintroduction.

In addition to solving specific problems on site, beaver management is primarily intended to help defuse the conflict between agriculture and nature conservation with educational work and improve communication, and to raise the necessary financial resources. The following measures are given as examples in the relevant information brochures:

  • Do not aggravate damage in woody plants by removing the wood immediately - the beaver has to cut down more trees for its winter food.
  • Sensible definition of compensation areas or set-aside areas on the edge of the river bank
  • Knowledge of official exemptions in extreme cases (e.g. removal of dams by beaver advisors on request)
  • Installation of grilles in dams already in the new construction
  • Protection of fruit trees with wire pants
  • Prevention by monitoring spread and spread
  • As a final measure: remove the beavers from individual conflict points. The animals are caught in live traps and also "exported" to other countries for resettlement or killed after capture.
  • Public relations work on the ecological benefits of beaver activities, such as the balancing effect on the water balance (capping of flood peaks, water purification), which also benefits agriculture.

Web links

literature

  • Gabriele Colditz, Ralf Schulte, Sabine Drobik (illustrations): The beaver . Way of life, protective measures, resettlement. In: Forum species protection . Naturbuch, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-89440-088-9 .
  • Karl-Andreas Nitsche: Beavers . Protection and problems. Opportunities and measures to minimize conflict. Castor Research Society, Dessau 2003. 52 pp.
  • Volker Zahner, Markus Schmidbauer, Gerhard Schwab: Beaver . The return of the lords of the castle. 2nd edition, Buch- und Kunstverlag Oberpfalz, Amberg 2009 (first edition 2005), ISBN 978-3-935719-32-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beaver management in Switzerland
  2. ↑ Johanna Sieber: How many beavers (Castor fiber L) are too many? (PDF file; 1.23 MB), p. 7
  3. ↑ "Bibermanagement" wants to solve the beaver problem - oesterreich.ORF.at. In: noev1.orf.at. April 9, 2007, accessed November 29, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment: Biber in Bayern · Biology and Management, p. 7 (PDF file; 10.08 MB)
  5. ^ Bavarian State Office for the Environment: Biber in Bayern · Biology and Management. P.45 (PDF file; 10.08 MB)
  6. ↑ "Beavers only cause problems" - argumentation aids at bibermanagement.de, accessed on March 31, 2010
  7. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment: Biber in Bayern · Biology and Management, p. 31 (PDF file; 10.08 MB)