PLANS to introduce beavers to the Dyfi Estuary have moved a step closer.

Natural Resources Wales says it is ‘minded to issue a licence’ for the release of six beavers into an enclosure on the southern banks of the Dyfi Estuary following a public consultation that drew nearly 2,000 responses.

Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust are proposing the release of up to six Eurasian beavers into a secure enclosure at Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve. A public consultation was held, from 14 September to 11 October, in relation to the proposal, which received 1,974 responses.

In a document released on 16 December, detailing their draft decision and a summary of the responses to the public consultation, NRW said: “Having reviewed the documents submitted, NRW was minded to issue a licence.”

However, as concerns were raised during the public consultation that were not addressed sufficiently in the original application, NRW has now requested further information from the applicant prior to making a final decision.

NRW are hoping to make a final decision in the new year: “NRW has requested additional information from the applicant in the form of an updated escape and re-capture plan which will include details of fence maintenance and fence monitoring and also an updated exit strategy.

“These have been requested as independent stand-alone documents that can be quickly and easily referenced if required.

“A final decision on the licence will rest with the provision of satisfactory information as requested for inclusion in these documents.”

In response to the public consultation, NRW received 18 representations from organisations or groups and 1,956 representations from the public.

1,762 of these responses were either identical or formed part of other representations, with 877 being a direct cut and paste of a standard response to NRW suggested by the Wildlife Trusts and 885 including general positive comments about beavers’ impact on habitats and waterways. They did not include any comments relating to the draft licence or decision document.

NRW also received many responses to another “entirely separate species licence application” for a five-year trial wild release project.