At the end of January, a female Maronesa cow was born in the Faia Brava Reserve, one of the Rewilding Europe core areas in Western Iberia. Totally, there are now 10 Maronesa individuals living in a semi-wild way at Faia Brava.
The Rewilding Europe initiative received a €500,000 check from the Dutch Postcode Lottery at its “Good Money Gala” on February 4. For 101 charities – and for Rewilding Europe as well – it was a big night at the Koninklijk Theater Carré in Amsterdam. The night’s highlight came when the Lottery announced it would award €14.4 million from its Dream Fund to Peace Parks and WWF to help them in their efforts to save African rhinoceros from extinction.
Bat numbers increased more than 40% between 1993 and 2011, after having declined for many years, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency. Positive news are also coming out about the comeback of the beaver.
On January 9, the newly established Italian NGO “Rewilding Apennines” signed a contract with Rewilding Europe, about a 3-year workplan, developed by the two organisations together during the last months of 2013. This after the official announcement the past October during WILD 10, the World Wilderness Congress in Salamanca, Spain, that the Central Apennines have been selected as the sixth area within the Rewilding Europe initiative.
The Dutch conservation organization Natuurmonumenten (Dutch Society for the Protection of Nature, 1905), with a staggering number of 735,000 members, 150.000 young members (of the OERRR initiative, 2012) and managing some 345 nature reserves covering over 101,000 hectares in The Netherlands, recently published a survey on the attitude of Dutch people towards wildlife in its country. Some 40,000 people participated in the survey showing a clear and positive attitude towards wildlife, wildlife comeback and more space for wild nature and wildlife.
Chris Dusauchoit, a Flemish radio- and television presenter and one of the faces of the Belgian TV show “Dieren in nesten” has, together with two young biologists launched the ambition to define which wild animals that are the five most impressive animals of the old continent. They are convinced: just like Africa has its Big5, we have to give our continent its own Big5!
Rewilding Europe’s facebook page reached 10,000 likes! We are very happy to see the rapidly growing interest in what we are trying to do, in the rewilding concept and its expansion, and in the many rewilding areas. Many thanks to you all for your thousands of facebook likes, to all these committed and passionate supporters of the idea to Make Europe a Wilder place!
A regional wolf hunting ban was recently decided in eastern Slovakia, covering one of the rewilding areas: the Poloniny National Park and the Eastern Carpathians Landscape Park, also called the “Wolf Mountains”. This is the first positive step in the restoration and protection of the wolf population in the Carpathians.
Rewilding Europe finalised today a new two-year partnership with Swiss-based Fondation Segré. The ambition is to prepare and implement urgent measures for the conservation of the Marsican brown bear in Central Apennines.
The lucky winners of the Christmas draw in our rapidly growing Travel Club were drawn on December 20, 2013 by Frans Schepers, Managing Director of Rewilding Europe, Ilko Bosman, Finance and Operations Director and Iva Tontcheva, Communications Manager.