This tweet from @Rebirding1 has been bugging me. I think this is due to two things:

1. The casual dismissal of the concerns of someone working on a rare moth species.
2. The refusal to acknowledge and explore the negative impacts that beavers can have.

Let me explain - thread. https://twitter.com/Rebirding1/status/1314992108168675332

One thing I have noticed by many involved in proposing species introductions (beaver and boar come to mind) is that they appear to present these species as having only positive impacts. This is the case here where @Rebirding1 presents beavers as the saviour of butterflies.

However the natural world is far more complicated than this. Thus it was entirely right for @Pieter_Vtieghem to highlight that in certain situations beavers can actually have negative impacts on lepidoptera. Animals that create disruption will naturally be good for some and bad

for others. Those championing these species need to be aware of the negatives and open to discussing them when they are raised. It is misleading to deny they exist. I am not seeking for these negatives to be used as a reason not to welcome these species back.

What I am seeking is for the kind of debate that @Blacky_Himself raised in his thoughtful and honest article on beavers here: https://twitter.com/Blacky_Himself/status/1313762786300788738?s=20

@Blacky_Himself welcomes beavers back to his sensitive chalk streams whilst recognising the potential negative impacts. He seeks creative solutions and planning for future mitigation. Surely the same could be done for other sensitive things, like Marsh Carpet moth?

We have an incredible amount of biodiversity data in this country that would enable us to know where beavers could have a detrimental impact on existing specialised and threatened species. We could make use of it in the same way that @Blacky_Himself discusses in terms of planning

We are surely better than just writing off rare species with nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders. I know species come and go naturally, but where we know of something and know it is rare and perhaps have even been caring for it for decades, surely we can retain it?