Beavers trump bureaucracy: £1m dam built in 2 days
A beaver colony in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic gained unexpected popularity when, in just two days, it built a dam that local authorities had been planning to construct for seven years. Acting without bureaucracy and formalities, the beavers saved the administration over £1 million.
The Administration of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area in the Czech Republic had long been trying to obtain the necessary permits for a wetland revitalisation project. This project, valued at 30 million Czech crowns (over £1 million), aimed to improve the environment, yet the local beaver colony almost thwarted the plans.
According to Radio Prague International, the beavers were the unexpected heroes of the situation. They quickly and effectively completed a project that people had been unable to realise for a long time. The beavers built dams on a bypass ravine created many years ago by soldiers in a former military base.
The construction was intended to dry out the area, and the revitalisation project aimed to restore it to its natural state. Bohumil Fišer, head of the Administration of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area, stated that nature had shown exceptional initiative.
The beavers created the necessary biotope conditions practically overnight. While the Military Forests and Estates and the Vltava River Basin Authority were negotiating the project implementation and land ownership issues, the beavers outdid them, saving us 30 million crowns. They built dams without any design documentation and for free, said Fišer in an interview with Radio Prague International.
The construction had been planned for 7 years. Beavers made the dam in 2 days
Zoologist Jiří Vlček added that the local administration cannot compete with such actions by the beavers. - Beavers can build a dam in one, at most, two nights. While people must obtain construction permits, approve a construction project, and find the money for it, noted Vlček.
Ecologists who monitored the situation emphasise that the beavers' actions significantly improved the environment. The wetlands and water basins they created will be excellent habitats for rare species like stone crayfish, frogs, and other organisms that thrive in wetland areas.
Beavers always know best. The sites where they build dams are always chosen correctly, better than when we design them on paper, said Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemian office of the Czech Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, as quoted by Radio Prague International.
