96% of respondents support proposed beaver introduction at South Norwood Country Park!

A public consultation on the potential introduction of Eurasian beavers to South Norwood Country Park in Croydon has found that 96% of respondents support the proposal. The consultation, led by Citizen Zoo and Croydon Council, received 817 responses, with 90% saying they were very supportive, 6% somewhat supportive, 2% somewhat opposed and 2% strongly opposed.

The consultation results will inform the next stage of the project, including submitting plans to Natural England for a release licence. Any beavers introduced at South Norwood Country Park would be kept in an enclosed area by a special beaver-proof fence, but remain publicly accessible. The beavers would be closely monitored by Countryside Warden Ian Glover, Citizen Zoo and a team of trained local volunteers.

Citizen Zoo introduced a family of five Eurasian beavers to Paradise Fields in Ealing in 2023 as part of the Ealing Beaver Project. The project marked the return of beavers to urban London for the first time in more than 400 years and aims to demonstrate how wildlife can coexist with people in an urban setting, while assessing impacts on biodiversity and local flood management.

Paradise Fields is publicly accessible and includes part of the Capital Ring footpath. Since the introduction of beavers, the ticket hall at nearby Greenford Underground station, which had previously flooded annually for more than a decade, has not flooded. The site has also recorded a 90% reduction in anti-social behaviour, alongside increases in birds, amphibians, invertebrates and plant life.

South Norwood Country Park has been managed as a public park by Croydon Council since 1989. The 47-hectare site includes a mix of habitats such as lakes, wetlands, wet-woodland and meadows. More than 100 bird species have been recorded there, alongside many species of bats and butterflies.

Elliot Newton, Director of Rewilding at Citizen Zoo:

“It has been incredibly exciting to work with Croydon Council over recent months to explore the potential for bringing beavers to South Norwood Country Park. We have engaged hundreds of local residents in the conversation and shared the extraordinary ecological benefits that beavers can bring as ecosystem engineers.

“The public response has been hugely positive, with 96% of survey respondents supporting the prospect of beavers at the site. We are now excited to keep building momentum with Croydon Council and work towards making this project a reality, helping South Norwood Country Park become one of Greater London’s leading sites for urban nature recovery.”

Ian Glover, Countryside Warden at South Norwood Country Park said:

“It’s been wonderful to see the level of engagement and enthusiasm that has been shown for this proposal.  We are still in early stages, but if we are able to successfully introduce a family of beavers into SNCP it has the potential to boost biodiversity by expanding and adding complexity to the sites wetland habitats; further, it will transform the site into a hub for nature conservation in the north of Croydon.”