A FAMILY of beavers looks set to be moved into an enclosed area of the North York Moors in an experiment to see if they can help prevent devastating floods.

Natural England has indicated it will license the five-year Forestry’s Commission project in Cropton Forest to see if the largest rodents native to Eurasia, which typically weight more than 20kg, help store more water in the landscape and slow its passage downstream.

It is hoped the beavers, to be brought from Scotland or Norway, will build dams and help maintain ones created as part of the pioneering Slowing the Flow scheme, to reduce the frequency of floods in the Pickering area.

Other aims of the trial include encouraging the restoration of riverside and open water habitats and increasing biodiversity along the river corridor.

It is also hoped to explore opportunities for eco-tourism, engage and educate people and investigate whether the beavers can reduce rhododendron infestations.

The activity of the beavers and their impact on habitat will be monitored using drones, which will in record the topographical and vegetation changes on an annual basis. Water quality monitoring will also take place.

A meeting of the North York Moors National Park Authority heard the trial would feature up to eight beavers, including an adult breeding pair, in a 16-hectare enclosure with a 1.2m high post and tensile wire fence in the Sutherland Beck Valley.

After members raised concerns over beavers finding ways out and highlighted mink-related ecological damage, they were told potential escape routes such as ditches, culverts and drains would be blocked.

The meeting heard finding and catching escaped beavers would be simple due to the creatures gnawing on trees and having a fondness for fruit.

Following the meeting, authority member and chairman of York and North Yorkshire Flood Protection Committee David Jeffels, described the project as “an excellent idea”.

He said: “Seeing these little chaps working away in the watercourses of North Yorkshire is going to be a really exciting prospect. The Environment Agency is nationally putting in a great deal of money into flood protection generally, but using the beavers is an ideal way of working with nature, so it’s a lot more cost-effective.

“As far as the North York Moors is concerned it’s going to be a great scheme to bring in youngsters, eco-tourism and educational purposes as well. It ticks an awful lot of boxes and we are working with nature to achieve what we all wanted to see - flood protection measures done as effectively as possible.”