Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 799 The Scottish Beaver Trial: Socio-economic monitoring, final report COMMISSIONED REPORT Commissioned Report No. 799 The Scottish Beaver Trial: Socio-economic monitoring, final report For further information on this report please contact: Paul Watkinson Scottish Natural Heritage Great Glen House INVERNESS IV3 8NW Telephone: 01463 725276 E-mail:
[email protected] This report should be quoted as: Moran, D. & Lewis, A.R. 2014. The Scottish Beaver Trial: Socio-economic monitoring, final report. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 799. This report, or any part of it, should not be reproduced without the permission of Scottish Natural Heritage. This permission will not be withheld unreasonably. The views expressed by the author(s) of this report should not be taken as the views and policies of Scottish Natural Heritage. © Scottish Natural Heritage 2014. COMMISSIONED REPORT Summary The Scottish Beaver Trial: Socio-economic monitoring, final report Commissioned Report No. 799 Project No: 7062 Contractor: Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) Year of publication: 2014 Keywords Beaver; monitoring; Knapdale; Scottish Beaver Trial; socio-economic. Background In May 2008, the Scottish Government licensed a trial reintroduction of European beavers (Castor fiber) to Knapdale Forest, mid-Argyll. The first animals were caught in Norway in 2008, quarantined for six months and released in spring 2009. The Scottish Beaver Trial (SBT) ended in May 2014, and this report is the final output of the socio-economic monitoring. The work has been undertaken independently by researchers at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). It follows initial and interim reports that outlined the commonly used methodologies that could be used for a socio-economic assessment of reintroductions.