Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow - Available

Bringing Back the Beaver

The Story of One Man's Quest to Rewild Britain's Waterways

by Derek Gow
Isabella Tree
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Read a sample Read a sample
1 of 1 copy available
“Derek Gow might be the most colorful character in all of Beaverdom.”—Ben Goldfarb, author of Eager

"Gow’s triumph has been the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver."—The New Yorker

Bringing Back the Beaver is farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow’s inspirational and often riotously funny firsthand account of how the movement to rewild the British landscape with beavers has become the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the early 1990s—in the face of outright opposition from government, landowning elites, and even some conservation professionals—Gow has imported, quarantined, and assisted the reestablishment of beavers in waterways across England and Scotland.
In addition to detailing the ups and downs of rewilding beavers, Bringing Back the Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of nature’s great problem solvers will be critical as part of a sustainable fix for flooding and future drought, whilst ensuring the creation of essential lifescapes that enable the broadest possible spectrum of Britain’s wildlife to thrive.
“Bringing Back the Beaver is a hilarious, eccentric and magnificent account of a struggle . . . to reintroduce a species crucial to the health of our ecosystems.”—George Monbiot

“A treasure.”—Booklist

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 17, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781603589970

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781603589970
      • File size: 18547 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Booklist

      September 1, 2020
      Beavers are well known as industrious and ingenious builders. True enough, but beavers are also "keystone species." Where there are beavers, there are wetlands: home to flora and fauna that flourish solely because of the beaver. Importantly, a whole ecosystem can change due to beavers' activity slowing flows, filtering silts and building soils. Despite many attempts to reintroduce this species to Britain, beavers have largely been absent there since the Middle Ages, but that does not deter Gow, who is feisty, funny, and committed to restoring an ecosystem. On beavers' behalf, he wheedles, he smuggles, he wins some battles, and he loses others. His rapier wit and high dudgeon turn their high beams to self-important types, administrators, or anyone who values profit over nature. Lest he be accused of stodgy singlemindedness, Gow includes a hilarious foray into "sexing" a beaver (no easy task). His vast knowledge may send animal lovers Googling species like the Devil's bit scabious, Corncrakes, Coypus, and Thylacines. The author's whimsical hand drawings, along with his voluminous vocabulary, make this book a treasure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading