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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making Cornwall a priority location for a wild beaver release.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

A licence is needed to release any beavers into the wild. Applications will be considered against comprehensive wild release criteria. These criteria have been designed to ensure only high-benefit, low-risk projects are licenced, and that beavers are reintroduced at a measured pace in a well-managed way. Any wild beaver reintroductions in Cornwall must therefore meet the criteria.