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Bringing Back the Beaver: The Story of One Man's Quest to Rewild Britain's Waterways by Derek Gow
goofymango's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.75
jefftstevens's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I learned such a lot from Derek's wonderfully informative book about bringing beavers back into the natural world. It really opened my eyes about how poor our government and many influential land owners are in terms of protecting the future of our natural world. I also never knew beavers were vegetarians.
adorkablesmile's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Derek Gow provides a first-hand account of the attempts to return beavers to their historic UK habitats over the late 20th and early 21st century. Writing from his own experience as an expert in the field, he waxes lyrical over the benefits of the beaver to the UK ecosystem. The bulk of the book details his adventures, Gerald Durrell-style (and indeed he takes Durrell as an inspiration), in rewilding Britain's waterways: from the stalling tactics and baseless bluster of civil servant bureaucrats; to amusing beaver conferences in which experts from Europe demonstrate how to sex a beaver. Whilst Bringing back the Beaver provides little in the way of solid science, it's an emotive and enthralling plea to return the species to its place in Britain.
boggremlin's review
3.0
An enjoyable overview of the rewilding of beavers in Britain. Not quite as in-depth as [b:Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter|39345591|Eager The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter|Ben Goldfarb|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521720745l/39345591._SX50_.jpg|60994905], and definately more anecdotal, but fans of animal stories and idiosyncratic activists will enjoy.
smitchy's review
3.0
A great book about the struggle to re-wild the beaver in the United Kingdom. If you know nothing about beavers this is a great place to start. Beavers are a keystone species. This mean that other species rely on the wetlands they create. The issue with beavers is while there is ancient historical records of them by the time anyone was making lists of "native" animals in the British Isles they had been hunted to extinction for their fur, castoreum, and to clear land for farming. So they were not considered "native" as they were not around
dwat98's review
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.5
A rather enjoyable read. It takes the bureaucracy of the UK and shines a light hearted light on it. Inspired by this to look more into rewilding efforts and their obvious benefits.