In 2024, 23 European countries dismantled a total of 542 dams, weirs, culverts, and sluices, an 11% growth from the year before, signaling that communities and governments alike see the benefits of reconnecting and restoring rivers.
The European beaver is once again on Portuguese territory, as there has been undeniable proof of the rodent’s return after five hundred years of absence, a positive and significant step in the aquatic rewilding of rivers and watercourses.
In England, the United Kingdom, the Eurasian beaver is now a protected species, meaning that it is no longer acceptable to “control” the endangered animal, among other things, as it is vital for the environment thanks to its dams.