As a fully publicly-accessible site, the Ealing Beaver Project stands to be the first of its kind in an urban setting in the UK. As wild beaver populations in Kent and Oxfordshire inevitably move closer to London, this is an incredibly important component of the project, preparing people to live alongside this species once again. Not only will it give people the chance to learn about these animals and their incredible behaviours but will provide key learnings on how we can coexist, even in urban environments.

The local community has been actively involved in the project since it’s early stages. Ealing Wildlife group led public consultations throughout 2022, which included an online survey, in person talks and events with the Friends of Horsenden. The proposal was met with widespread enthusiasm that was reflected in the collosal volunteer and community efforts put in by members of the community during the summer of 2023 towards preparation of the site for the beavers’ arrival. Over a 100 volunteers helped in these efforts and continue to do even after the arrival of the beavers in the form of daily fence patrols, monitoring camera trap footage and participating in recording biodiversity.