Beavers get straight to work reshaping Lincolnshire river

A stretch of river near Grantham is already being transformed - just a month after beavers were released into a new nature reserve.

The animals have been introduced at Boothby Wildland, a 617-hectare former arable farm between the villages of Boothby Pagnell and Bitchfield , now being restored for nature.

And early signs suggest they haven’t wasted any time.

“They get to work really quickly”

Standing beside the West Glen River, site manager Clare Barrett points to fresh wood chippings scattered across the ground - clear evidence of their arrival.

“They get to work really quickly, as we’ve already seen signs of,” she says.

Beavers are known as ecosystem engineers — felling trees, building dams and reshaping waterways.

“They will start to fell trees… and by doing that, it allows light to come in,” Clare explains.

“That means more plants and insects, and then more birds and mammals will start to use the landscape.”

How they’re changing the river

The beavers are now reshaping the West Glen - helping turn a once straightened, fast-flowing channel back into a more natural wetland.

“They’ll build lodges and dams which back up water… creating these really complex wetland habitats,” Clare says.

That means water moves more slowly through the landscape, reconnecting with its natural floodplain. Helping tackle flooding, naturally.

Before the project, water had been channelled quickly off farmland, increasing flood risk further downstream.

“We’re starting to see the evidence of being able to hold more water on site,” Clare says.

“So it slowly trickles through… rather than rushing straight down the river.”

The team had already begun restoring the river using “fake beaver dams” but now the real engineers have taken over.

A landscape led by nature

Boothby Wildland is one of the UK’s largest rewilding projects, and home to the largest beaver enclosure in England, covering an area roughly the size of 300 football pitches.

The aim is simple: restore natural processes - and then step back.

“We want to let nature take the lead,” Clare says.

Over time, the project will also introduce grazing animals and compare results with a small section of working farmland to measure the impact of rewilding.

For Clare, seeing the beavers in action has already been a highlight.

“There’s something really special about seeing them get to work so quickly,” she says.

“I can’t wait to see the impact they have over the coming months and years.”

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New walking routes across the site are expected to open in the coming months, allowing visitors to see the transformation for themselves.