Council planned to spend millions on flooding, then beavers solved it
The Ealing Council in London successfully mitigated local flooding issues by reintroducing beavers to a former golf course instead of building an expensive artificial reservoir. This nature-based solution has proven effective at managing water levels while restoring local biodiversity.
Why it matters
It demonstrates the potential for 'rewilding' and nature-based engineering to provide cost-effective, sustainable solutions to urban climate challenges.
For Londoners living around Greenford Tube station, tiptoeing through floodwater to get to work was a part of their daily routine. The ticket hall found itself inundated after a heavy downpour with neighbourhoods flooded and sandbags routinely deployed to make way.The local council of Ealing, a borough in West London faced the daunting reality every year and yet struggled to come up with a solution. Initially, they planned on spending millions on expensive engineering works to create an artificial reservoir to solve the problem. That was before conservationists shared another idea. Until five beavers came along and fixed the problem for free. “Why don’t we try a nature-based solution? Why don't we bring back beavers?"
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