Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the proposal for the reintroduction of beavers to the Forest of Dean near Lydbrook; which Minister of his Department is responsible for making a decision on that project; when such a decision will be made; whether that project requires approval by the Forestry Commission; whether such approval has been given; and what precise scientific evidence his Department will use to reach a decision on that matter.

Under section 78 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act, the Secretary of State has authorised Natural England to act on his behalf to determine applications for licences to release species, including the European beaver, subject to the controls in section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). The Secretary of State may, as he sees fit, instruct Natural England in respect to the discharge of this function and he may also choose to make the final determination of a licence himself.

There is a Forestry Commission proposal to release beavers into a fenced enclosure in the Forest of Dean near Lydbrook. This project would require a conditional licence allowing release into a secure enclosure. An application for a licence would need to be submitted to Natural England to determine, and the evidence required would include whether there are appropriate measures in place to keep the beavers securely and to recapture any animals that should escape.