400 years ago, beavers went extinct in Britain. They were hunted and then couldn’t come back.
But in 2009, after a law was passed in Scotland to restore habitats with native species, scientists brought a pair of Norwegian beavers to a remote rainforest in the hopes that they would repopulate and restore an aspect of the land’s native history.
That’s exactly what happened.These two beavers began to have kits, and then their family spread. Wanting to keep the gene pool diverse, scientists brought in a few additional Norwegian beavers, too.
And once they became established, the landscape began to change in remarkable ways. Eight species of birds relocated to the area. Rare butterflies began laying eggs in the teeth-indented marks beavers made on logs. Freshwater shrimp returned.
And on top of these changes, because of the dams the beavers created, flooding around one of the stops on the tube ceased entirely. City officials had been planning a major infrastructure project to help with this, and then they didn’t have to do it.
Truth be told, some other challenges occurred too, especially for farms that were affected by changes in the water. Not everyone is happy. But the government is trying to place these beavers in the best possible locations.
These beavers are making a remarkable amount of change simply by being themselves.
Maybe…
I need the you-est version of you to be the me-est version of me.
Maybe…
You need the me-est version of me to be the you-est version of you.
Maybe…
We need an ecosystem of one another.
After all, we’re interconnected, too.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 