With the appeal of rewilding burning as brightly as ever, the number of European Young Rewilders has surged over the past three years. But the real success story is how the ambitions of this talented and passionate community are translating into meaningful action.
From ambition to action
A passion for the wild, togetherness, and delivering positive rewilding impact on the ground. These are all hallmarks of the European Young Rewilders — a community set up by Rewilding Europe three years ago to help young people breathe new life into wild nature across Europe.
This impact was vividly demonstrated during Sylvester Rewilding’s “Rewilding Week” in September, which was supported by a 400-euro grant from the European Young Rewilders. Over seven days, it saw 15 young volunteers — many of whom are members of the community — come together to restore a former eucalyptus plantation in north-west Spain. The hard-working group removed eucalyptus sprouts, mapped vegetation, and prepared the land for natural regeneration, with complementary rewilding workshops deepening their knowledge and connection to the landscape.
“Seeing everyone connect so deeply with nature and each other during the week reminded us why we started this project,” says 28-year-old Hedda Werres, Co-Founder and Head of Rewilding at Sylvester Rewilding. “Our goal has always been to help young people reconnect with nature through action — by showing that their hands-on efforts really make a difference.”
A thriving platform
The European Young Rewilders provides an active platform for young people — both students and career professionals — to meet and inspire each other, and to find what they need to engage in or continue their rewilding efforts. It also gives them a unified voice so that their views on and knowledge about rewilding can be heard. Supported by a well-established team of motivated volunteers, members independently organise and attend activities, meet-ups, events, and workshops all year long, across the whole continent.
“It’s clear that young people want to rewild Europe — what matters the most is whether their desires are translated into real-world action,” says Giulia Testa, the European Young Rewilders Coordinator. “Sylvester Rewilding’s Rewilding Week is what the European Young Rewilders is all about — bringing together, enabling, and empowering young people across Europe, so that they can accelerate nature recovery themselves.”
Burgeoning impact
Three years on from its foundation, the European Young Rewilders is going stronger than ever, having just passed the 1000-member and 4000-online follower milestones. This growth shows that young people’s interest in rewilding is not a short-term craze — rather, that it taps into a generational, deep-seated aspiration and need to stand up for nature, be in nature, and restore nature.
For Giulia Testa, who has played a key role in the evolution of the European Young Rewilders, reaching 1000 members demonstrates the enduring appeal of rewilding. But she takes far more pleasure from the community’s growing impact.
“The real success has been seeing more and more young rewilders who are knowledgeable about rewilding proactively come up with ideas and carry out rewilding on the ground. Over the last three years, young rewilders have become increasingly confident in advocating for rewilding actions and human-wildlife coexistence, speaking up at decision-making opportunities, developing their own research, calling out shifting baseline syndrome, and championing the nature recovery at scale that young and future generations are owed.”
How the European Young Rewilders enables impact: 2022-2025, by the numbers
Funding makes a difference
Financial support is one way that the European Young Rewilders is helping young people turn their rewilding ideas into action. This autumn, three 400-euro grants helped grassroots initiatives take place in the Netherlands and Greece, as well as Spain.
“Our rewilding week was entirely organised without a budget, so the grant made a huge difference,” says Hedda Werres. “It allowed us to keep the experience accessible and affordable for young people, who often struggle to take part in such opportunities. Rewilding isn’t just about restoring land — it’s about restoring our relationship with the natural world.”
Education and advocacy
The European Young Rewilders is also about educating young people so that they have the skills and knowledge to embark on their own rewilding journeys, and helping them build engagement so that they can scale up the rewilding movement.
In the Netherlands, the European Young Rewilders grant helped 12 young people take an online and field-based wolf tracking course in the Kootwijkerzand Nature Reserve. And in Greece, the same funding saw European Young Rewilder Alexandros Kassapis organise an activity that brought 10 young people together to install interactive aluminium signs along the banks of the Kifissos River in Athens — providing information on flora and fauna and explaining the importance of rewilding. A subsequent walking tour saw 30 people celebrate the signs, learn about local wildlife, and join a brainstorming session about how to restore the river.
Onwards and upwards
The development of the European Young Rewilders in its first three years has built a great platform for further growth — both in terms of numbers and impact.
“I’m so happy to see rewilding becoming mainstream across European youth organisations, because nature needs young people, and young people need nature,” says Giulia Testa. “As actors and ambassadors, young people have an essential role to play in scaling up nature recovery. The European Young Rewilders will continue its work to ensure they can and do play that role.”
Get involved!
As the future of rewilding, young people of all backgrounds are invited to join the European Young Rewilders. Membership is free, while members need to be:
- between 18 and 30 years old
- located in Europe
- pursuing a career or study path related to rewilding, and/or have a desire to contribute to the rewilding movement
Want to know more?