By Elizabeth Hunter

A license has been granted to reintroduce beavers to an area of the Scottish Highlands - for the first time in 400 years.

After months of unexpected delays, permission for the reintroduction of the species to Glen Affric has been granted.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and Trees For Life have been working in partnership on the proposal since 2022, which will now see beavers in the northwest Highlands - four centuries after they were first driven to extinction in Scotland.

Following two years and three phases of extensive local consultations, last December, FLS applied to NatureScot for a licence to release beavers into Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin.

A family of beavers will now be released into a National Nature Reserve owned by FLS, above Beinn A’ Mheadhoin

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