At the time of the previous World Wilderness Congress in 2009, I was quite busy becoming an ecologist in the lecture rooms of the VU University in Amsterdam. Just four years later I find myself sitting amongst great colleagues in a huge conference hall in Salamanca, listening to the closing remarks of what has been the 10^th edition of this Congress, the world’s longest-running international conservation event. And what an inspiring experience it has been! Let me just make a little trip down memory lane about how wonderful WILD10 really was.

The period from July to October is a risky one in Western Iberia every year. You cannot imagine how high the temperatures can get and how scarce the rains most often are. This means a great risk of fire. Even if fire is a natural phenomenon here and has always been, the frequency has increased to very high and dangerous levels that are not natural. Not because of the climate, but rather because of humans and their habits.

Since the concept of rewilding was defined and expanded by conservation biologists Michael Soulé and Reed Noss in a paper published in 1998, projects and initiatives aiming to restore large wilderness areas, natural processes, corridors or keystone species have flourished all around the world.

“A little to the left,” says Adrian. “No, stop!” screams the other Adrian. Petru, the Major of the county of Armensis, steps on the brake — just in time!

For the vision of Europe as a wilder place to succeed, with much more spaces for nature and wildlife, it is crucially important that new generations also get the opportunity to discover, feel and respect nature.

It’s such a joy to see your kindreds succeed and walk their talk! Some months ago, when I met Cristian Ilea, he was talking about the storks and the live video stream and the difficulties of such an enterprise and… and I, for one, was vaguely tired of big words and shiny futures of never happening ideas.

You could be forgiven for imagining there was little true wildness and wilderness left in Europe, and you’d be wrong, as the Trail to Salamanca will increasingly reveal in weeks and months to come.

After a winter that will be remembered as the wettest in Spain for the past 51 years – according to rainfall data recorded by the Spanish Meteorological Agency AEMET – spring has broken into Western Iberia. These heavy rains have managed to increase water reserves compared to the same dates last year.

Traditionally, nature conservationists are not trained in business development and entrepreneurship. It is often assumed that nature conservation related professions are guided by ecological and sustainable principles which, therefore, define the educational design of nature conservation curricula. However, the uncertain financial contexts for nature conservation and persistent competing claims by diverse stakeholders concerned, require alternative professional competences to address current conservation challenges.

Since many years I am dedicated to the conservation of nature and for almost a year I work with passion as Rewilding Manager at Rewilding Europe. Last months, an experience in nature and  a notice in the newspaper made me think through a rewilding perspective.