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EXPLORING BEAVER HABITAT IN EUROPE:

BEAVERS AS THREAT TO DIKES IN THE NETHERLANDS

Beavers have been reintroduced in many counties in Europe , including the Netherlands. The beaver population is gradually growing and with that comes the conflict with the important diking system protecting the low lying areas in Holland from flooding. In 2007 ALTERRA WAGENINGEN UR published an interesting report: Graverij van bevers in de rivierdijken in de Gelderse Poort (Beavers digging in the river dikes of de Gelderse Poort- the area of the Waal river just upstream of the Nijmegen Bridge). Alterra- rapport 1604. ISSN 1566-7197. Author: F. Niewold)

Figure 1: Locations in de Gelderse Poort with dike stretches sensitive to digging beavers and requiring priority protective actions.

Figure 2. Oblique overview of the area. The Nijmegen bridge is just on the left side. The Arnhem Bridge (A bridge to far) is just 20 minutes by car to the north. The area with the orange arrow was holed by beaver and re-engineered to protect it from future damage. See also figure 3. The light blue area highlights one of areas sensitive to beaver holing- Wz3

Figure 3 This collage shows a combination of images, starting with beaver holes , the re enforcement of the toe of the dike after the damage was repaired. Another sensitive area was identified as well ( blue arrows)

More information of course in the Alterra report referred to earlier (PDF in Dutch)


Jean Thie EcoInformatics International Inc. - Ottawa, Ontario and Wakefield, Quebec, Canada