In further proof that 2023 is shaping up to be the year of the beaver, beavers will return to London for the first time in over 400 years after receiving funding from mayor Sadiq Khan.

Conservation groups received £40,000 from the mayor to create the reintroduction site which will be open to the public, the first of its kind in a UK city. A pair of Eurasian beavers could arrive at their new home in Paradise Fields, Ealing, as early as this autumn.

Dr Sean McCormack, vet and chair of the Ealing Wildlife Group, said: “Many people assume beavers are a wilderness species, when in fact we’ve just forgotten how closely we used to live alongside them. We’re so excited to study how beavers interact with an urban river catchment and, crucially, with urban communities.” Elliot Newton, co-founder of the rewilding organisation Citizen Zoo, added that they are hoping to “challenge perceptions” and show how London can become a hub of urban rewilding.

The project is one of 22 across the capital to receive mayoral support as part of the Rewild London Fund.

Khan said: “Despite the harm inflicted on the natural world, we have the power to make amends, and I am committed to ensuring that London is at the vanguard of efforts to reverse the trends of declining biodiversity and the destruction of nature. Rewilding allows nature to take the lead and is an exciting way to create healthier ecosystems and allow humans and wildlife to live together more harmoniously.”

The UK’s beavernaissance has been ongoing since 2017. Beavers were first reintroduced to the UK in an operation known as the Cornwall Beaver Project after they were hunted to extinction in the 16th century, then in 2022, beavers were given legal protection in England, making it illegal to kill or harm them as they are formally recognised as native wildlife.

As a result of the Cornwall Beaver Project, biodiversity in Cornwall has massively improved, with 13 new bird and mammal species spotted in the surrounding area. Researchers and wildlife recorders have credited the improvement to beavers, who create a more hospitable habitat for other native animals by building dams that slow river flow.

Following the success of the Cornwall project, two beavers named Justin and Sigourney Beaver (lol) were introduced to a farm in north London. Devastatingly, Justin died before the pair could breed – but thankfully, Andrea De Lucy from Enfield council said that Sigourney “is fine and still plodding around and doing beavery things” while they “are working to find her a new mate when one becomes available [...] from Scotland.”

Two other beavers named Chompy and Hazel were also released onto Ewhurst Park in Hampshire in January this year (thankfully, both are still alive and well).