Beavers can provide humans with great services. In addition to protecting against flooding and improving water quality, they also contribute to biodiversity.
In the Czech Republic, on a military site in the south of Prague that was scheduled for development, beavers built a wetland with pools and canals before the arrival of the backhoe loaders. The plan was to create meanders on the Klabava river downstream of the two ponds and to create several water bodies as well as a sedimentation basin. The site has been classified as a protected area since 2016, and it was necessary to reduce sedimentation and slow down the flow to preserve the endangered crayfish living downstream.
The beavers’ work covers an area twice the size of the project initially planned in the permit. As a result, Czech taxpayers have saved more than a million euros. The beavers provided a complete service, free of charge, without damaging anything and to a remarkably high standard.