Field Notes

Beavers may not look like climate heroes, but their dams do the work of billion-dollar infrastructure. By slowing streams, they store water during drought, buffer floods, create fire-resistant wetlands, and build rich habitats for fish and birds. Their ponds even support agriculture by recharging aquifers and nourishing soils. If beavers were a new technology, we’d call them revolutionary. In reality, they’re proof that sometimes the best climate solutions come not from machines, but from letting nature get back to work.