Beavers Across Britain Starts in

Please find below the draft agenda for the event. Please note that this is subject to change. You will receive an email in the New Year asking you to select your workshop choices once the agenda has been finalised.

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20th-21st May 2026

Speakers at Beavers Across Britain

Kevin Swift

Opening Session Day 2

Leila Phillip

Dinner Session

Nick Baker

Opening Session Day 1

Day #1 Beaver Conference

Time Session Speaker Name Subject
08:00 – 09:00 Registration
09:00 – 09:15 Opening and welcome Dr Richard Young – Beaver Trust CEO and Dr Martin Gaywood Welcome to the conference and handover from the international beaver symposium
09:15 – 09:45 Keynote speaker Nick Baker
09:45 -10:15 Main talk 1 Professor Richard Brazier, Dr Alan Puttock, Dr Roger Auster Renewing coexistence with beavers in Britain: maximising nature-based solutions benefits
10:15 – 10:35 Main talk 2 Dr Sarah Henshall Bringing beavers back to the Cairngorms – restoring beavers to the spey catchment, a whole catchment approach led by the Cairngorms National Park Authority
10:35 – 10:50 Main talk 3 Forestry England FE beaver history and next steps
11:00-11:30 Break
11:30 – 11:50 Main talk 4 Tom Bowser Beavers = Farmers friends?
11:50 – 12:10 Main talk 5 Elliot Newton The Ealing Beaver Project: Urban Beavers, Thriving Communities, and London’s Future
12:10- 12:30 Main talk 6 Heather Ritchie-Parker and Dr Claire Howe Genetic analysis of beavers (Castor fiber) in England and considerations for their long-term management
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-14:45
 Workshop 1 Robin Hanson and Ben Morris Lowland practical management in Kent and lessons From beavers at Stodmarsh NNR
Workshop 2 Dr Jenny Bryce Beavers in your neighbourhood: what community engagement is needed as beavers are restored in Britain?
Workshop 3 Krzysztof Dabrowski and Elly Andison Managing assets in the presence of beavers
Workshop 4 Dr Amy Fitzmaurice and Mike Dunn What does human-beaver coexistence look like
Workshop 5 Pete Creech Beaver-led ecotourism: building low-impact, community-driven nature experiences
Workshop 6 Heather White Developing a new mapping tool to assess potential beaver impacts: The Beaver Considerations Assessment Toolkit (BCAT)
Workshop 7 Dr Rob Needham and Elliot McCandless BDAMS: A framework for assessing beaver dams for salmonid passage.
Workshop 8 Scottish Beaver Advisory Group Socio-cultural and economic perspectives of beavers
14:45 – 15:30 Break: poster session and networking time
15:30 – 16:05
 Breakout session 1 Zelda van der Waal beaverApp, a web app to simulate beaver population growth and management
Breakout session 2 Ashleigh Wyvlie Beavers and Scotland’s railway
Breakout session 3 Heather McCallum Introducing beavers to a site of high conservation value
Breakout session 4 Thomas Hurst Using non-invasive techniques to develop a methodology to accurately identify and monitor individual beavers in Kent
Breakout session 5 Lucy Anne Sisson Ecosystem engineers: The effect of beaver activity on habitat and botanical diversity
Breakout session 6 Eilidh Guthrie Scottish wetlands regeneration by eurasian beavers: A creative practice-led exploration focusing on biodiversity restoration
Breakout session 7 Alexander Adams Birds, bats, beavers, and bioacoustics: listening to biodiversity in beaver-engineered wetlands
Breakout session 8 Lauren Jasper and Amy Radford Wild release licence application: Our experience and lessons learned.
Breakout session 9 Alicia Leow-Dyke Beavers in Wales: Where are we now?
Breakout session 10 Will Stinson of Defra, Elly Andison of Environment Agency, Delphine Pouget and Stuart Otway of Natural England  Long Term Management Plan for beaver reintroduction in England.
16:10-16:50 Panel Discussion TBC TBC
16:50 – 17:00 Close of Day 1 Dr Richard Young – Beaver Trust CEO Wrapping up day 1

Day #2 Beaver Conference

Time Session Speaker Name Subject
08:00 – 09:00 Registration
09:00 – 09:10 Opening ans welcome Dr Richard Young – Beaver Trust CEO
09:10 – 09:45 Keynote Speaker (Opening) Kevin Swift
09:45 -10:15 Main talk 7 Professor Jill Robbie Shaping the future of beavers in Scotland: strategy development and implementation
10:15 – 10:35 Main talk 8 Katie Tourigny-Bridger England’s journey to living alongside beavers
10:35 – 10:50 Main talk 9 Dr Romain Pizzi’s and Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer Beaver translocation process and success rates
11:00-11:30 Break
11:30 – 11:50 Main talk 10 Dr Rob Needham Updating the evidence base: Beavers and migratory fish
11:50 – 12:10 Main talk 11 Dr Sophie Common and Dr Claire Howe Disease surveillance for conservation of English beaver populations
12:10- 12:30 Main talk 12 Emily Simpson Beaver ponds as understated carbon sinks and sources: A nature based solution?
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-14:45
 Workshop 1 Jonathon Willet and Alan McDonnell Lessons from consultation in practice
Workshop 2 Dr Jenny Bryce, Forest Research and Beaver Trust Woodland creation in the presence of beavers
Workshop 3 Helen Campbell and Andrew Gallear, Ace Nature Data visualisation for science, engagement and mitigation
Workshop 4 Five Sisters Zoo and Beaver Trust Beaver health screening, rehab, care and facilities
Workshop 5 Jess Chappell Beaver policy-related workshop
Workshop 6 Mark Elliott, Bex Fraser and Beaver Trust Monitoring the efficacy of beaver management in Devon: 2015 – 2025
Workshop 7 Matt Holden Exploring green finance opportunities to fund beaver-created wetlands
Workshop 8 Amy Radford, Giles Wagstaff, Stuart Otway Wild release licensing: Supporting positive project development in England
14:45 – 15:30 Break: Poster session and networking time
15:30 – 16:05
 Breakout session 1 Dr Claire Howe, Maria Beechamn and Gemma Meechan Managing beaver conservation in Britain through the Eurasian Beaver Studbook
Breakout session 2 Professor Nigel Willby The biodiversity gift that keeps on giving – lessons from 20 years of monitoring beaver wetlands
Breakout session 3 Christopher Hall Return of the Beavers Film Screening
Breakout session 4 Rome Cook Do beaver-created wetlands reduce pest populations in adjacent agroforestry crops?
Breakout session 5 Patrick Cook Beaver wetlands create a buzz and a flutter for pollinators
Breakout session 6 James Macarthur eDNA sampling reveals no negative effects of beaver recolonisation on the catchment-scale distribution of migratory fish
Breakout session 7 Dr Sally Mackenzie Invertebrates, freshwater pearl mussels and beavers. The opportunities beavers bring for other priority species in the Spey.
Breakout session 8 Oscar Chambers-Smith and Sophie Mackaness From Beavers to Belonging: A vehicle for nature connection in young people
Breakout session 9 Dr Fiona Howie Post Mortem examination of Scottish beavers
Breakout session 10 Beaver Trust Team Balancing the Scales screening and Q&A
16:10-16:50 Panel Discussion TBC TBC
16:50 – 17:00 Close of day 2 Dr Richard Young – Beaver Trust CEO Reflecting on the conference