The rewilding of European ecosystems can help to tackle both the current climate and biodiversity emergencies. In a policy brief published today, a coalition of five organisations call on the European Commission to prioritise nature recovery in the EU Biodiversity Strategy post-2020.
The grant from cosmetics retailer Lush will be used to fund the first stage of a reintroduction programme, which aims to establish a breeding colony of the vultures in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area on the Bulgarian-Greek border.
By restoring the degraded river Lankälven, the Rewilding Lankälven project is also looking to stimulate and support activities based on local nature and culture.
Located in Cambridgeshire in eastern England, the 100-year Wicken Fen Vision project is working to acquire and rewild 53 square kilometres of drained fenland. Joining the European Rewilding Network will allow those involved to exchange insight and expertise and deliver improved results.
Today rewilding organisations from 15 different European countries are calling for a wilder Europe and the inclusion of rewilding in the European Green Deal and EU Biodiversity Strategy post-2020. This has the potential to significantly mitigate climate change and reverse biodiversity decline.
The surveying work will bring a greater understanding of the distribution and abundance of roe deer populations in Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley (part of the Western Iberia rewilding area). This is the first step in increasing the availability of natural prey for Iberian wolves.
Growing rapidly since it was founded in 2013, the European Rewilding Network has played an important role in the development of Europe’s rewilding movement. Updated admission criteria for members will shift the focus from network expansion to support for practical, result-oriented rewilding.
Financed by crowdfunding, the removal of 10 obsolete dams on the Kogilnik and Sarata Rivers will help to restore wild nature and should provide economic benefit to local communities.
Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania have been reintroducing bison in the Southern Carpathians of Romania since 2014. Shot by French filmmaker Emmanuel Rondeau, “Zimbrul” is an intimate snapshot of people’s feelings about the return of this iconic species.
Continuing a longstanding reintroduction programme, the latest recent translocation of 91 fallow deer in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area in Bulgaria will help to create biodiversity-rich mosaic landscapes and enhance local food chains.