REWILDING UPDATES

Rhodope Mountains

The Rewilding Rhodopes team saw an important change in leadership, with Stoycho Stoychev - an excellent team leader - replaced by Andreana Trifonova in March. Milena Nikolova joined the board of Rewilding Rhodopes, adding to the overall strength of the organisation.

A series of translocations over the winter saw total of 81 fallow deer released in the eastern part of the Rhodope Mountains. The team has been working for many years to re-establish viable populations of deer, with more than 500 fallow and 50 red deer reintroduced at different sites. This helps to restore food chains, with ungulates forming an important prey base for both carnivores and scavengers. Remains of dead deer are an important food source for a diverse array of species, including griffon, Egyptian and cinereous vultures. Through their grazing the deer also increase biodiversity by helping to create mosaic landscapes. Future plans include the further release of hundreds of animals in different municipalities including Kardzhali, Momchilgrad, Kirkovo, Krumovgrad, Harmanli and Ivaylovgrad.

European bison rewilding took another step forward, with two young females provided by state forests in the Bieszczady Mountains in Poland joining the existing herd of 12 free-roaming animals in May. This founder herd was supplemented by the birth of four new calves this spring, showing the entire population of 18 animals is acclimatising well. Apart from bison, red deer and fallow deer, the Rhodope Mountains is also home to a large population of free-roaming Karakachan horses (85) and Konik horses (105). Discussions with the national government to give these animals formal wild status have been re-started.

This year 73 griffon vulture fledglings have successfully taken to the air, maintaining the upward growth trend in the local population. The overall griffon vulture population increased from 81 pairs in 2016 to 112 pairs in 2022, with a total of 381 (!) juveniles fledging over the course of this seven-year period. Cinereous vultures – Europe’s largest and heaviest raptor – will be released later in autumn, after 17 birds from Spain arrived safely in June. The vultures are being temporarily housed in a large, purpose-built aviary until they can finally be released back into the wild.

Greater Côa Valley

A year after the first herd of 10 Sorraia horses arrived in Vale Carapito rewilding site, a second herd of 10 animals was released in Ermo das Águias, in Vale de Madeira (Pinhel municipality). Here they graze the landscape and create a mosaic of habitats that benefit myriad other species. There are only about 200 Sorraia horses, a native Portuguese breed, across the world. In addition to the Sorraia horses, preparations have been made for the release of 10 Tauros in November in Quinta da Azilheira. A request for the permit of release of roe deer has still not been granted by the relevant authorities.

Launched in early 2021, the "Wild Côa Network" supports nature-based businesses in the Greater Côa Valley, based on a common vision of a wilder and more sustainable future. In March, Rewilding Portugal brought the existing 27 Wild Côa Network partners together. Encouraging these partners to work together will multiply the benefits for themselves, their clients, and wild nature. The network, which is still growing, has already added real value to the region and its rich historical, cultural and natural heritage. The recently established rewilding centre in Vale de Madeira is playing an important role taking community engagement to the next level, giving both residents and visitors an insight into local rewilding efforts and their increasingly positive impact.

Rewilding Portugal’s two-man strong surveillance team focuses on the region south of the Douro River, in the districts of Aveiro, Viseu and Guarda. Their aim is to detect and report environmental crimes such as snares or wildlife poisonings, and rural wildfires. These are all major threats to many wildlife species in the region, including the Iberian wolf. Between 1997 and 2019, snares are known to have killed at least six wolves south of the Douro River. This is significant for a population of fewer than 50 individuals. To emphasise and enhance the value of live wolves - as opposed to dead ones - Rewilding Portugal hosted a second nature guide training dedicated to wolf tourism, which is becoming increasingly popular.

Southern Carpathians

Between 2016 and 2021 the local rewilding team achieved impressive results: a total of 14 European bison transports led to the birth of 38 calves in the wild, with more than 110 European bison now roaming free in the Țarcu Mountains. Four bison rangers play a critical role in local communities promoting and supporting co-existence, as well as carrying out essential monitoring and research. Around 30 bison have been monitored via GPS collars and virtual fences, with more than nine kilometres of electric fencing installed to avoid potential conflict. This work has given us great insight into the behaviour of the bison and their movement across the Țarcu Mountains. It is great to see that at least another 10 calves were born in the first half of this year.

Building on these major achievements, we have been focusing on two major priorities during the first half of the year. Firstly, we are working to ensure continued funding in the years ahead - the outlook is positive, with several funding proposals submitted or in preparation. We are planning to release at least an additional 25 bison in the Țarcu Mountains over the next three years. These efforts need to continue to ensure a demographically and genetically viable population (ultimately at least 250 individuals) is established in the Southern Carpathians.

It is critical that harmonious relations between humans and bison continue. We will therefore expand our engagement with local people and stakeholders to form "Bison Smart Communities", along the lines of our work with "Bear Smart Communities" in the Central Apennines in Italy. This will include expanding ways for local people to benefit from the growing business and employment opportunities around bison tracking and wildlife watching.

Secondly, we have been reviewing our legal set-up in Romania, based on a long-term strategy for the landscape developed in cooperation with WWF Romania. As a result, we have decided to transform our existing local entity in Romania into "Rewilding Romania" - this will oversee and manage both the Southern Carpathians and Danube Delta rewilding landscapes. Marina Drugă, the team leader of the Southern Carpathians rewilding landscape, will (additionally) become the director of this new foundation. Rewilding Romania and WWF Romania will continue to collaborate closely, based on an MoU that is currently being developed. This new set-up will take our cooperation to the next level, based on complementary roles and skills, allowing us to achieve our joint ambitions.

Central Apennines

The Central Apennines landscape is bursting with activities and achievements. In March, the kick-off of the "LIFE Bear Smart Corridors" (full name: "Enhancing the Viability of Brown Bears in Central Italy and Greece through the Development of Coexistence Corridors") initiative was a major milestone. Coordinated by Rewilding Europe, the 2021-2026 initiative has a total budget of 5.9 million euros, with 4.3 million euros contributed by the EU LIFE Nature grant. It will see 11 partners in Italy and Greece work together on bear conservation and benefit from each other’s expertise. The primary aim is to develop large corridors for bears, based on the creation of Bear Smart Communities.

Bear Smart Communities have already been established in Genzana, Alto Molise and Valle Roveta by the Central Apennines rewilding team and partners, The aim now is to establish a total of 16 such communities over the next five years. Numerous activities have already been carried out, including the removal of barriers, installation of bear-proof fences and rubbish bins, stakeholder meetings and workshops, and bear monitoring through camera trapping. The team is actively using Earth Ranger as a monitoring tool, with a total of 1161 field reports registered during the first six months of this year. Camera trapping yielded hundreds of observations of red deer and roe deer, wild boar, grey wolf, Marsican brown bear, red fox, pine marten, porcupine, wild cat and other wildlife species.

Work on Apennine chamois began with the release of three animals in Sirente Velino, with additional releases planned. Work on griffon vultures was intense, with the monitoring of 34 GPS-tagged birds ongoing. Some poisoned birds were found by the team. Permits for a first vulture feeding station were obtained, while the set-up of a second feeding station is also being explored. Observations of both cinereous and Egyptian vultures by the team were really interesting, indicating the potential for these species in the region. The release of 30 captive-bred white-clawed crayfish into the Verde River saw the total number of juveniles released so far rise to 300.

A management agreement was signed with the Università Agraria of Castel Madama for a 360-hectare piece of land called "Bosco della Selva". Rewilding Apennines is exploring rewilding activities here. Last but not least, the media outreach of Rewilding Apennines is growing fast due to its excellent communications work. Press trips, film makers and media have paid a lot of attention to the rewilding of the Apennines. The film "Central Apennines, A Rewilding Journey", produced by Bruno D’Amicis and Umberto Esposito, was launched during the Cinema e Ambiente Film Festival in June.

Swedish Lapland

Preparations have been made for rewilding interventions in both Norbotten and Västerbotten – both Swedish counties are part of this vast rewilding landscape. These include peatland and river restoration, rewilding of forests, and working with Sámi communities.

Norbotten is currently one of three areas in a wider peatland restoration initiative supported by the Grantham Foundation and carried out in collaboration with Wetlands International. Cooperation with the Norbotten County Board has been very productive in preparing for this work, which will commence in the second half of 2022. The aim is to enhance the commercial viability of peatland rewilding initiatives by enabling them to sell nature-based carbon credits to private investors. Such credits would differ from more traditional carbon credits in that their focus would be to facilitate the restoration of peatland habitats in line with rewilding principles.

A new area that Rewilding Sweden has been focusing on is the Vindelälven-Juhttátahkka Biosphere Reserve in Västerbotten, where a large forest restoration initiative will be launched in cooperation with key stakeholders and partners, including local Sámi communities. We are thrilled that the Swedish Postcode Foundation has decided to support this initiative with a 260,000-euro grant. This aligns with the Postcode Foundation's focus on forest and forestry this year. In addition to practical measures (including demonstration of clear-cut-free forest management), Rewilding Sweden will develop a practical guide for forest restoration and organise seminars for forest managers (including private owners) in the biosphere reserve and near Gothenburg.

Fundraising efforts for these initiatives is continuing (i.e. LIFE Nature, Interreg Aurora), while Rewilding Sweden is now building a team, starting with a new team leader/director and a rewilding officer in October this year, as well as new members for the Supervisory Board.

Velebit Mountains

Within the 220,000-hectare Velebit Nature Park, Rewilding Velebit has now become a significant wildlife management stakeholder. The foundation is now the sole owner of four hunting concessions and is responsible for wildlife management across a total area of 22,600 hectares. The long-term aim is to create healthy wildlife populations, so that the Velebit Mountain chain can act as a large wildlife corridor in this part of the western Balkans.

The purchase of an additional concession (7,300 hectares) and signing of multiple MoUs with neighbouring concessions (covering 23,700 hectares) in underway and has created a physical connection between the North Velebit National Park and Paklenica National Park in the south. This means that a 74,000- hectare area will benefit from favourable wildlife management aimed at supporting wildlife comeback, restoring trophic networks, and developing nature-based tourism.

The concessions are managed as a business entity where new and innovative sources of income will ultimately have to cover the operational costs of managing the area. Partnerships with the Italian-based SKUA Nature and Netherlands-based Cabin ANNA will provide new sources of income through wildlife watching and photography, and unique overnight stays in nature. In May, five professional wildlife watching hides were completed - these are now being tested. Promising observations of some iconic species, including brown bear and white-backed woodpecker, have already been made. From late summer, the hides will be ready for guest bookings. In June, a fourth Eurasian lynx (called Ljubo) was released as part of the LIFE Lynx project. This will boost the genetic strength of the local lynx population. In Jablanac, a full-grown male was caught in February and fitted with a GPS collar.

Great progress was made in the Lika Plains, where agreements with two main grazing concessionaires were renewed, allowing the natural grazing of this area to continue for years to come. A new handling facility for Tauros, a new local herd manager, renewed and repaired fences, and plans for expanding the area and intensifying local communications and community engagement were all worked on. There are now 80 horses (check) and 160 Tauros (check), roaming the plains and boosting diversity through their grazing.

Danube Delta

The war in Ukraine is taking a terrible toll on people and nature. Yet despite facing many challenges, the resilient Rewilding Ukraine team continue to see their efforts bear fruit. Rewilding Europe’s cross-border Danube Delta rewilding landscape, which is located partly in southwest Ukraine, is located well away from the main areas of fighting. The Rewilding Ukraine team and partners are continuing their work to restore 40,000 hectares of wetland and terrestrial steppe habitat, with a focus on key natural processes such as flooding and natural grazing.

Yet even in this untouched corner of the country, war is affecting rewilding efforts. Rewilding Ukraine Executive Director Mykhailo Nesterenko and communications officer Katya Kurakina fled Ukraine when their home city of Odessa was attacked, and are now based in Rewilding Europe’s head office in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. The remaining Rewilding Ukraine team members, all of whom are safe, are divided between Romania and Ukraine. Some make frequent visits to the delta. There are many things the team cannot do now, but the focus is on the things the team and its partners can do.

In parts of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve the team is able to remove dams and dykes, and is trying to relocate red and fallow deer to the Danube Delta. Despite their many operational difficulties, the Rewilding Ukraine team have been greatly cheered by a number of exciting new arrivals. Following the release of a herd of kulan (Asiatic wild ass) onto the Tarutino Steppe in late 2021, a foal was born in the early spring almost certainly the first fully wild kulan born in Ukraine over 200 years. Oblivious to events taking place elsewhere in the country, the steppe marmots released by the Rewilding Ukraine team in 2021 have also been finding the Tarutino Steppe to their liking. At least six pups were born in the spring, with the team hoping to make another release later this year.

There is still no sign of the brutal and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine coming to an end. Yet despite the challenges arising from the conflict, the rewilding agenda in the Danube Delta is moving forwards, to the huge credit of the local rewilding team. In other areas of Ukraine, the impact of the war on nature and animals has been far more severe. Valuable natural areas are being destroyed and degraded, with large numbers of animals dying in reserves, zoos, and abandoned houses. Rewilding Ukraine is taking parting in a fundraising campaign with 1+1 (a Ukrainian media group) to support Ukrainian protected areas, shelters, and sanctuaries (donations welcome).

As the team’s rewilding efforts in the delta have shown, Ukrainian nature is as resilient as the people of Ukraine, and they both depend on each other. Once the war is over, they will both recover.

Oder Delta

The transboundary landscape of the Oder Delta - and its growing rewilding team - are becoming increasingly well-recognised and accepted partners in the region. Two years building a financial base for the Oder Delta have helped to secure a diverse project portfolio, financed through the German Postcode Lottery, the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education, Rewilding Europe, and other private donor foundations. This year the 12-strong rewilding team took their first serious steps to shaping the rewilding agenda on the ground.

The REWILD-DE project is a key approach to measure rewilding success in the Oder Delta landscape. Together with researchers from iDiv and UFZ, the Oder Delta team intensified their dialogue with stakeholders and adapted their communications strategy to the diverse interests of landowners and users in the region, including closer cooperation with water, forest and nature conservation authorities. This dialogue is monitored by the research team in order to gain a full picture of allies and opponents.

Knowledge of various stakeholder interests was an asset when the team entered into dialogue with the local Farmers Union on Usedom Island. Although intensive and large-scale infrastructure is a massive threat to the mosaic landscape here, a good basis for cooperation was established rewetting key areas of former drained peatland in the centre of Usedom Island (Zerninseesenke). The Randow River shows similar potential, with two large organic farms proposing several areas for rewetting and rewilding covering approximately 100 ha of floodplains. Restoration activities will start imminently, with a new freshwater officer joining the team in July after a long search.

In March, the team bought its first piece of land for rewilding - a 2.5-ha island and surrounding wetlands on the Uecker River (a tributary to the Stettin lagoon). This pilot, a joint initiative with two partner NGOs, will work to recover the meandering river dynamic and hopefully expand to other parts of the river in due course.

River rewilding is becoming an increasing priority on the Polish side of the delta, where the Ina River initiative, supported by EOCA and BaltCF, began its first actions. In March, a clean-up event saw more than 100 volunteers gather together. In June/July, the team selected a company to plan and supervise a first pilot for gravel rifle bed restoration, reconnecting the river with its floodplain on a one-kilometre stretch between Nowogard and Goleniów.

On the Ina River the team started a dam removal intervention - funded by the Open Rivers Programme and the Firmenich Family Foundation (Switzerland) - focused on three weirs and an old mill. This will improve the ecological connectivity of around 30 km of river. The work also required a tendering procedure to select a company for the relevant permits, and the team is still overseeing the administrative process for the selection.

Despite growing barriers in the landscape, such as road infrastructure and fencing to contain African swine flu, the Oder Delta team is gathering an increasing amount of evidence that key wildlife species are returning to the landscape. With wolf numbers increasing continuously, systematic camera monitoring along the German-Polish border has been set up within the REWILD-DE initiative, providing photos of wolves, roe and red deer, and even beavers and cranes. Systematic monitoring along main highways has not yet identified any particular elk crossings, but has revealed for the first time the presence of a collared lynx in the eastern part of the delta.

The Oder Delta team signed a MoU with the Western Pomeranian Naturalist Society, which keeps track of all wild key carnivores and herbivores returning to the Oder Delta.

With a growing range of rewilding interventions and staff increasingly active in the field, interactions with local stakeholders and land users are becoming more and more frequent. As a result, the team recently published the first German and Polish Rewilding Oder Delta brochure, explaining the rewilding approach. At the end of June a conference on landscape and water in the priority transboundary Ueckermünder Heath area was organised - this saw 60 stakeholders from Poland and Germany come together to discuss how to rewild forests and increase their resilience to water stress and climate change.