First five rewilding areas
20 Nominations, 5 top areas selected!
Participants of the May 2009 “Conference on Wilderness and Large Natural Habitat Areas” were invited to submit nominations for becoming part of Rewilding Europe (formerly The Wild Europe Field Programme). Twenty applications from across Europe were received and detailed feasibility studies conducted on six areas. The subsequent field visits assessed the protection status, land ownership, human settlement, threats, land abandonment, tourism, relevant business initiatives, ecological status and institutional situation from which five areas were chosen to serve as the first model projects:
These five areas span 7 countries, but with an emphasis on the eastern parts of the continent. More than 30 different organisations have become local partners – including national parks, nature parks, geoparks, archaeological parks, UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, universities, foundations, local communities, and NGOs.