A dispute over property rights in Brdy, Czech Republic stymied municipal plans to build a dam. Beavers took matters into their own hands (or claws), constructing a dam of their own in the protected landscape.
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00:00He looks cute, works quietly, and above all doesn't want a penny for the job.
00:07Just some peace and quiet.
00:09But these beavers in the Czech Nature Reserve of Burdi
00:12have violated all of the country's building and planning regulations,
00:16and probably also the European Union's working time directive.
00:20And they're now being celebrated for it.
00:23Initially, Bohumil Fischer wanted to get the diggers in here.
00:27The plan was to rewild the straight drainage ditches in the former military area
00:32so that the meadows below the ponds could revert back into wetlands.
00:36It took six years of planning before the construction work could finally begin.
00:41But Bohumil Fischer arrived too late. It was already done.
00:46The beavers did our job for us.
00:50And now they're doing the maintenance work for free.
00:52As long as the animals live here, they'll take care of the dams.
01:04There used to be dry meadows here.
01:07Now Fischer can barely get through with rubber boots.
01:10A beaver clan has been constructing its home here for four years.
01:14The drainage ditch is still straight,
01:16but beaver dams retain sediment
01:18and so protect the sensitive population of rare stone crayfish
01:21in the Klabava River.
01:25Beavers are true workaholics.
01:27A single animal can fell up to 200 trees a year.
01:31The beavers have already surpassed
01:33the Park Administration's construction plans,
01:35an invaluable help in the literal sense of the word.
01:38We've estimated the costs
01:44if we'd had to do the beavers' work ourselves.
01:47Based on the area of the wetland
01:49and the estimated list prices,
01:51the beavers have saved us around 30 million koruna.
01:54That's 1.2 million euros.
01:59So they're not just cute.
02:01They're absolute treasures.
02:03And maybe next time,
02:05the furry civil engineer
02:06should also get the planning contract.
02:10The beaver was much more creative than our project.
02:13It has a much better feel for the topography
02:15than our technical approach.
02:19All in all,
02:20a happy ending for humans and busy beavers alike.
02:23With a clear and simple message.
02:26Sometimes nature knows best.