Effective communication is essential when it comes to changing people’s ways of thinking, building public support, creating positive attitudes and engaging with stakeholders as we work towards a wilder Europe. To this end, Rewilding Europe has always placed great emphasis on reaching out, creating dialogues and involving people from all strands of society. We have now reached out to almost a billion people since we began operating in 2011.
Today our initiative continues to generate a lot of attention, with rewilding as an innovative conservation approach resonating with and inspiring people of all ages and backgrounds.
Over the years we have published a wide array of reports, practical guides and species-specific content. Our own work is summarized in yearly annual reviews that highlight last years’ achievements but also give an insight into general rewilding-related topics, as well as on the ground work we are doing in each of our rewilding landscapes across Europe. All Rewilding Europe publications are available online.
A new rewild podcast series is to take listeners on an inspiring audio journey across Europe, meeting many of the passionate people and inspiring initiatives currently enabling nature recovery on the continent.
A collaboration between Rewilding Europe and series presenter James Shooter – travelling photographer and filmmaker – “The Rewild Podcast” will bring each of Rewilding Europe’s rewilding landscapes to life, as well as taking an in-depth look at the work of many other leading European rewilding organisations, including members of the European Rewilding Network.
Films are a great way to showcase our work to the widest possible audiences. We currently work on a new series of short films to showcase and upscale rewilding. The series is produced by White Fox Pictures and supported by Hogan Lovells. New episodes will be broadcast at Rewilding Europe’s YouTube Channel.
Also, on a regular base, broadcasters invite Rewilding Europe to engage in TV productions and documentaries. We have acted on a number of these requests, resulting in several reportages and news items, including a collaboration with National Geographic that led to a 6-part primetime TV series, called Europe’s New Wild.
A single image can inspire someone to care, act, or believe in a future where both nature and people thrive. Every year, the Rewilding Europe Award celebrates talent and empowers photographers to influence change, create dialogue, and reimagine a Europe that is wilder and richer. The Rewilding Europe Award is part of the prestigious GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest and the chance for photographers to shine by showcasing Europe’s wild side. We seek photographs that illustrate rewilding in motion — scenes that evoke passion, curiosity, and wonder.
Celebrated annually on March 20, World Rewilding Day highlights the power of rewilding and its real-world impact. Launched in 2021 by the Global Rewilding Alliance (GRA), this international day unites rewilding initiatives and communities worldwide, raising awareness of nature recovery. As a proud partner of the alliance, Rewilding Europe supports and represents rewilding efforts across the continent, working to restore Europe’s wild beauty.
The European rewilding movement has come a long way since Rewilding Europe was founded in 2011.
With a new series of ‘Impact Stories’ we examine how the impact of rewilding has grown over the last decade, demonstrating the benefits of wilder nature and inspiring others to engage in rewilding too.
Over the years, we have been able to capture the attention of a large number of people, in Europe and worldwide. This is done through a range of communications activities, from the local level to national, international and global level. This means we have now reached out to almost a billion people since we began operating in 2012.
We see a strongly growing interest of media in Rewilding Europe, both printed and online. In diverse range of major international media have been covering all kinds of stories over the past few years, resulting in articles, news items and features in National Geographic, New Scientist Magazine, BBC Wildlife Magazine, CNN International, The Washington Post, New York Times, GEO Magazine, and a whole range of national magazines and newspapers, various inflight magazines.
The Rewilding Europe website now publishes about 100 news and blog articles on an annual basis, originating from a wide range of authors. Yearly, Rewilding Europe main and local websites attracts more than 255,000 500,000 unique visitors per year. Our newsletter reaches out to 12,000 subscribers, while our “Rewilding Updates” internal newsletter continued to be distributed to employees, advisors, partners and donors.
Rewilding Europe’s first promotional film, filmed in the wild parts of Greater Côa Valley in Portugal, the Velebit Mountains in Croatia, the Southern Carpathians in Romania and the vast area of Swedish Lapland, went viral, reaching more than 500.000 people. Other short films have been published and are available on Rewilding Europe’s YouTube Channel.
Outdoor and indoor exhibitions can be a good tool to inform people. Rewilding Europe has participated in two large outdoor exhibitions in Madrid (2014), Berlin (2015) and Stockholm (2016), with Wild Wonders of Europe, each reaching out to over 500,000 people. In some of our rewilding landscapes, in particular the Danube Delta, Velebit Mountains, Rhodope Mountains and Southern Carpathians, local exhibitions have been set up to inform the public about the rewilding initiatives in their countries, reaching out to tens of thousands of local people.
So far, we have produced 37 different publications, either online or printed. The most popular publications are a book about the Aurochs (Born to be Wild, 2013) and a study on Wildlife Comeback in Europe (2022). Other publications that have generated a lot of interest are Circle of Life (2017), Rewilding Horses in Europe (2015) and our annual reviews.
In 2019, we streamlined the branding of our local partners, introducing new logos that clearly illustrate the link with Rewilding Europe. We also designed a series of stylistic ‘trademarks’ that represent our rewilding landscapes. These will support creating new identities and generating pride. And together with our local partners, we encourage local stakeholders to use them as much as possible.
Africa has its so-called Big Five, but what about Europe? Yes, we can all make suggestions for a European Big Five, but that would be referring to Africa in a way which may not best serve the European context. We have created a selection of what we call the European “Fabulous Fives”, paying testament to the inspirational beauty and diversity of Europe’s wild nature.
“Rewilding Europe is an organisation that has tremendous vision and dynamism. We are proud and excited to have been working with them on the first TV series and film production ever to show the amazing story about the rewilding of Europe to a global audience.”
Ellen Windemuth
CEO Off The Fence Productions
Website visitors
Engaging publications
Media articles in 2022
Million people reached
