In the UK it has been recently realised that ensuring that rivers, upstream, prevents downstream flooding. There's certainly a belief that beavers could help.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/08/dam-it-h...

We're also animal lovers in the UK, with, I think, a bit of a sense of guilt for the animals we've made extinct on our island.

We had bears, beavers, wolves and so on - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_animals_of_the...

Speaking of bears, there is even a surviving bear pit about 10 miles outside London on the Thames: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosherville_Gardens