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It has long been known that beavers are natural engineers. They know how to build their dams exactly in the right place and exactly in the right way. It is this particular trait of these rodents that happened to save the Czech Republic a lot of money when a group of beavers built the dams that humans were too slow to build first.
Bureaucratic Delays and Disputes
According to The Guardian, in 2018, a project was drafted to build a dam to protect the Klabava River from acidic water and sediment spilling over from nearby ponds. Beyond shielding the endangered crayfish that live in the river, the dam would also turn the area into a protected wetland.
Wetlands, according to Skoot Eco, are vital ecological resources. They are the home to diverse flora and fauna and serve as breeding grounds for amphibians, birds, and more. In addition, they are natural water filters, improving water quality and sustaining biodiversity.
Unfortunately, the land, which had previously been used as army training grounds became the subject of ownership disputes, and the project became stuck in a bureaucratic mire. However, thankfully for the Czech government, beavers don’t really care about land ownership or bureaucracy and a family of beavers managed to do what they were unable to do for years in a matter of days.
Four Dams and Counting
According to The Guardian, the family moved into the gulley encircling the pond where a few small dams had been planned. So far, the beavers have built four dams, and are starting on more. The resulting wetlands are even bigger than the ones planned by the government, and have done so perfectly and without cost. It is estimated that the beavers have saved the Czech government about $1.2 million.
Bohumil Fišer from the Czech Nature Conservation Agency told The Guardian: “It’s full service: beavers are absolutely fantastic and when they are in an area where they can’t cause damage, they do a brilliant job.”
Over the centuries and millennia, humans have accomplished incredible feats of engineering including building skyscrapers, bridges, and even space shuttles. And yet, there is still nothing that compares to a simple beaver’s dam. The case of the dams by the Klabava River are proof that it is always better to work in concert with nature than against it. After all, nature can often do the job better and cheaper than humans can.
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