Authors

Discussion

The reintroduction of European beavers (Castor fiber L.) to Soviet Latvia illustrates the tensions between ecological ideals and productivist ambitions in managing water and landscapes under authoritarian governance. Once extirpated in the 19th century due to intense hunting for castoreum and fur, beavers were reintroduced in the early 20th century and saw significant expansion during the Soviet era. This process coincided with the mass-scale drainage and amelioration projects designed to optimize land for agriculture and forestry, reshaping rivers and wetlands into controlled, productivist landscapes.

While the Soviet ethos embraced ecological thinking, recognizing beavers as “natural engineers” capable of regulating hydrology and improving biodiversity, it simultaneously prioritized their exploitation for fur and meat. These dual objectives – ecological restoration and utilitarian resource extraction – clashed with the ideological demands of large-scale agriculture and forestry, which viewed beavers as disruptive agents in human-controlled water systems. Beavers expanded their habitats into drainage canals and ditches, creating conflicts with economic sectors and exposing the inconsistencies of Soviet environmental management.

This paper explores the evolution of human-beaver-water relations in Soviet Latvia, drawing on archival materials, scientific reports, and media analysis. It argues that the natural rivers and ecological systems championed in the early stages of reintroduction ultimately lost the battle to productivist imperatives. By examining the intersections of ideological governance, ecological management, and human-animal relations, this study sheds light on how Soviet water management policies sought to dominate nature while grappling with its resistance. The Latvian case highlights broader tensions between authoritarian environmental stewardship and the unintended consequences of reintroducing a species into landscapes engineered for productivity.