Welcome to the Putting Beavers to Work for Watershed Resiliency and Restoration website. Our website focuses on a collaborative multi-year project that is focused facilitating coexistence with beavers so their benefits as a watershed resiliency and restoration tool are realized.

Beavers, Canada's national animal, provide many valuable ecosystem services including storage of water during droughts and flooding, creation of habitat for a variety of species, and improvement of water quality. These benefits allow for the increased watershed resiliency and restoration across the landscape. Land owners can come into conflict with beavers as they can cause damage by flooding roads, plugging culverts or taking down prized trees, which can result in the removal of beavers from the landscape.

This project is a partnership between the Miistakis Institute and Cows and Fish Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society and aims to increase the coexistence of humans and beavers. By engaging with local land owners and land managers we strive to decrease conflict with beavers, foster social tolerance, and heighten understanding of the benefits that beavers provide us and the ecosystem as a whole. We aim to achieve these goals by conducting a survey to assess knowledge and attitudes towards beavers, hosting hands-on coexistence workshops, and creating information material and videos to increase awareness. If you are interested in learning more about this project and beaver coexistence.

Thank you for visiting our website. If you have any suggestions for additional content or questions about beavers as a watershed resiliency and restoration tool, please contact us.