Rewilding: turning up the coexistence dial

Across Europe, a quiet but powerful transformation is underway. In 2022, the Wildlife Comeback Report highlighted the return of a number of wildlife species across Europe as a real conservation success. But many Europeans have largely forgotten how to live with wilder nature and wild animals, which means this recovery has also brought new challenges — from social pushback and increasing polarisation, to the downgrading of legal protection.

This is particularly true when it comes to large carnivores such as bears and wolves — which are often perceived as a threat to people and other animals — and species such as beavers, which can significantly transform landscapes. The situation of the wolf is a clear example: over the past few decades, its population size and range have expanded significantly across the continent, prompting renewed debate over how large carnivores should be managed.

As a progressive and holistic approach to conservation, rewilding offers a way forward by fostering more than simple tolerance of wildlife. It seeks to shift the conversation from coexistence to “co-prosperity”, creating conditions in which both people and wildlife can thrive and mutually benefit one another. Rewilding invites us to reimagine our relationship with nature and to embrace the new opportunities presented by wildlife comeback.

How does Rewilding Europe enhance coexistence?

Rewilding Europe and its partners have set ambitious goals to bring back keystone species — supporting natural recovery where possible, and reintroducing animals where they have been lost. Supporting and showcasing successful human-wildlife coexistence is central to our mission to amplify wildlife comeback. Our priority is to encourage and empower communities to share space with keystone species in the landscapes where we work, using tailored approaches that reflect the unique social and ecological character of each place.

By shining a light on tangible, locally led examples of human-wildlife coexistence, we aim to inspire new ways of thinking about wildlife comeback from the ground up. Moving beyond polarised debates, we focus on shared, practical solutions that work for both people and nature. In doing so, our mission is to drive the scaling up of coexistence beyond the landscapes where we operate, through learning, collaboration, and connection with others across Europe.

Within our operational landscapes, our coexistence approach is pragmatic, focused on working closely with local communities. This includes actions to:

Wildlife-smart communities in action

Marsican brown bears in the Central Apennines

In the Central Apennine mountains of Italy, which are home to the endemic and endangered Marsican brown bear, the Rewilding Apennines team and their local NGO partner Salviamo l’Orso established the first “Bear-Smart Community” in 2015, in the small town of Pettorano sul Gizio, where bears from the neighbouring Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park have now settled. Building on their initial success, they are developing a network of 16 such communities across the landscape, as part of an initiative to develop multiple large-scale wildlife corridors.

Bear-Smart Communities play a vital role within wildlife corridors, enabling bears and other species to move safely between protected areas. Practical measures such as electric fences, bear-proof waste bins, and the restoration of orchards away from villages help prevent damage, while specialised “Bear Intervention Units” provide on-the-ground expertise to quickly address emerging challenges. But the approach goes further. By supporting nature-based businesses linked to wildlife — especially the iconic Marsican bear — and building social consensus around wildlife comeback, these communities are turning recovery into opportunity. As wildlife returns, so the landscape is gaining value — attracting growing numbers of visitors, strengthening local pride, and laying the foundations for a future in which people and bears truly thrive together.

European bison in the Southern Carpathians

Supported by Rewilding Romania and WWF-Romania, the free-roaming European bison population in the Southern Carpathians rewilding landscape is thriving, delivering growing benefits for nature, climate, and communities as it expands in both size and range. Through carefully managed translocations, partnerships with breeding centres, and natural population growth, numbers are steadily moving towards the target of more than 150 breeding animals needed for long-term viability.

Building on the success of Bear-Smart Communities in the Central Apennines, Rewilding Romania is developing Bison-Smart Communities across the landscape to help people flourish alongside bison. Coexistence plans are being created with local communities, supported by a new Bison Hub in Armeniș that underpins field activities and a volunteering programme. A range of measures — including electric fences, ranger patrols, GPS collars, “Bison Intervention Units”, educational programmes, and awareness campaigns — is helping to strengthen coexistence. Anchored in the return of bison and other wildlife, the team is also driving the growth of high-quality, sustainable nature-based tourism, fostering deeper connections and pride in wilder nature and generating lasting social and economic benefits that build further support for rewilding.

Bringing beavers back to Argaty

On the 560-hectare Argaty estate in Perthshire, Scotland, Tom Bowser and his family have pioneered the reintroduction of beavers to a working livestock farm, which also boasts a red kite feeding centre, wildlife watching hides, and self-catering accommodation. In 2021, they became the first private landowners in Scottish history to legally release beavers into the wild. To date, 20 of these eager rodents have been rehomed at Argaty — animals that would otherwise have been culled.

At first, Tom was uncertain how beavers would fit into farm life. Their return has brought a few challenges — from felling branches that flatten fences to nibbling crops meant as food for sheep. But the upside to their reintroduction in Argaty has been dramatic. Beaver dams and the pools they create have helped to reduce chronic flooding and stored water through periods of drought, supporting both wildlife and livestock. Their engineering work has boosted biodiversity, improved water retention, and created wetland habitats that have attracted insects, birds, and an array of other species back to the landscape.

“Beavers have been the making of Argaty,” says Tom. “Every farm is different and the opportunities and challenges beavers bring will vary from site to site. But when I cast my mind back a few short years and remember the apprehension I felt about bringing beavers here, I realise how misplaced those fears were. Argaty remains a working farm and we still produce food. Many people think Europe must choose between feeding people and restoring ecosystems and wildlife populations, but our experience shows that with a coexistence mindset, both are possible.”

Supporting lynx comeback in Slovenia

Jernej Žgur and his wife Tjasa co-founded and run “BE AROUND ME” — a Slovenian company that offers bear watching and hiking in the forests around the town of Postojna, located close to the Italian border. Combining field-based experiences with conservation knowledge, BE AROUND ME is rooted in a simple belief: that large carnivores live around us, and we are part of their habitat.

Jernej and Tjasa have taken part in a number of international carnivore comeback initiatives, which have seen them actively involved in lynx monitoring, research support, and outreach. For Jernej, supporting the return of the lynx and other wildlife in Slovenia is deeply personal.

“I believe that this is the very least people can do – to give something back if we have caused something to disappear. The reasons why lynx vanished from Slovenian forests are complex, but most of them are connected with human impact, including that of hunters in the past. As a hunter myself, I feel a responsibility to do as much as I can to help return at least a small part of what has been lost. Hunting and wildlife comeback can be complementary, if hunting is practised responsibly and based on ecological principles.”

Jernej’s passionate belief in coexistence comes from first-hand experience.

“Coexistence is complex,” he says. “But it is possible if we accept responsibility for our role in nature and are willing to adapt, rather than expecting nature to adapt to us.”

Living with wolves in Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley

Albano Alavedra owns an 80-hectare goat farm in the southern part of the Greater Côa Valley rewilding landscape, near the Serra da Malcata in Portugal. He received his first livestock guardian dog in 2021, followed by a second in 2022. Both dogs were provided by the Rewilding Portugal team, as part of a wider set of measures aimed at improving coexistence between local farmers and Iberian wolves.

In addition to directly supporting farmers, the team has also worked to support the recovery of the roe deer populations in the landscape. The recovery of this natural prey species has the potential to further enhance human-wolf coexistence by reducing wolf predation on livestock.

Albano believes that coexistence with wolves is not only possible, but beneficial too.

“We can live with wolves — the solution is to change people’s views about livestock security,” he says. “Today there are no shepherds left here, just people that don’t have enough knowledge about nature. They just leave their livestock in a fence and go away, which means they are exposed to wolf predation. There also needs to be a stable population of deer, as an alternative food source for wolves.

“I have always believed in coexistence because I grew up seeing and hearing wolves. Wolves are an essential part of nature. They help keep livestock herds healthier by reducing disease, encourage wild boar to keep moving so they don’t overgraze pastures, and regulate smaller carnivores that can cause losses among young animals. They also help maintain populations of rabbits and partridges, leaving more food available for birds of prey. We can’t simply eliminate carnivores, because this unbalances the entire ecosystem.”

At one with nature in the Central Apennines

Founded in 2018 by Virginia Sciore, Alla Casa Vecchia is an artisanal dairy and goat’s cheese producer located in the Majella mountains, within the Central Apennines rewilding landscape in Italy. Born from a family desire to reconnect with nature, Alla Casa Vecchia’s goats are raised with care, while their milk is transformed into cheese using traditional methods that follow the rhythm of the seasons. Raw materials come from the land itself, food is cooked over a fire, and daily life embraces a slower pace shaped by generational knowledge and practice.

Alla Casa Vecchia is also a place of welcome and exchange. Visitors are invited to experience rural Central Apennine life through tastings, curated breakfasts, courses, and small events that share the value of pastoral culture. Looking ahead, Virginia sees the dairy as a small but meaningful custodian of the landscape and local tradition, hosting a growing number of workshops and gatherings that strengthen the bond between people, place, and nature.

For Virginia, coexistence between humans and wildlife is essential, particularly in wilder parts of Europe such as the Central Apennines.

“Living alongside wildlife reforges our bond with nature and adds value to both the landscape and the community,” she says. “Challenges do exist — even on a daily basis — but with awareness, preventive measures, and dialogue, we’ve seen that they can be addressed. The presence of wildlife reminds us that we are part of nature, not above it. I have seen attitudes towards coexistence gradually shift in the area where I live, with growing recognition that wildlife is an ally and a resource — rather than a threat — and that it is possible to thrive together.”

Scaling up coexistence across Europe

Most human–wildlife coexistence challenges stem from different views on whether — and how — people should share space and resources with wildlife again. They are shaped by how different groups perceive risk, as well as by the cultural value of certain species. Farmers may oppose the return of predators such as wolves or bears because they fear for their livestock and safety. Others worry that removing dams or embankments could change the way rivers flow and increase the risk of flooding to homes and property. At the heart of these tensions are differing views on the value of wildlife, concerns about livelihoods, and competing priorities for land use and conservation.

To understand and address people’s fears and challenges, strategies to enhance coexistence must be developed collaboratively. Bringing people together allows them to voice their needs and experiences, and to jointly design, implement, and manage solutions that work in everyday practice. Europe’s rich diversity means that measures which enable people and wildlife to share space will vary from place to place. Nevertheless, strong community-level action and leadership are essential to help people and wildlife thrive together across the continent.

Let’s build a thriving home for people and wildlife in Europe

Why should we rewild? Because we don’t just want to survive – we want to thrive. We want to breathe clean air, drink clean water, feel inspired and enriched by wild landscapes, and build sustainable livelihoods that are resilient and connected to nature.

Rewilding is not only about restoring landscapes — it’s also about restoring relationships. It’s about re-awakening our connection to the natural world and re-imagining the future of our communities. When people and wildlife share space again, we create more than ecological balance — we create hope, resilience, and a deeper sense of belonging. This partnership is rooted in the belief that Europe can be both wilder and wiser — a continent where the return of nature becomes a shared story of coexistence, care, and renewal.

Let’s move beyond the language of limits and embrace opportunities. Rewilding offers a bold, hopeful path — one where beavers, bison, wolves, and bears aren’t seen as threats, but as allies in rebuilding a world where all life can flourish. By following this path, we can all prosper together.

JOIN US AS WE WORK TO ENHANCE COEXISTENCE ACROSS EUROPE