…Reserve (Ukraine) and Verde e Moldova. “This project will see the reflooding of former polders, reconnection of lakes with the Danube and restoration of islands, all combined with natural grazing…

…boosted natural grazing and helped to attract tourists. Staffan Widstrand / Rewilding Europe In the second half of the twentieth century, Kartal Lake was isolated by a system of dykes…

…an open, mosaic and woodland condition as a result of grazing. Yet rising levels of land abandonment, leading to a reduction in livestock numbers, mean that low-intensity grazing is increasingly…

…and woodland. This has created a dynamic, braided river landscape that is allowed to flood and shift course naturally. This rewilding process has led to the spectacular natural recovery of…

…wildlife, while reintroduced herbivores now need no supplementary feeding due to the increased availability of natural grazing. “With the river now flowing freely, this project has proven that ecological river…

…can play a vital grazing role, opening up landscapes and enhancing biodiversity. To this effect, Rewilding Europe now supports natural grazing in 16 different pilot areas across nine countries. In…

…grazing animals in open spaces and strips in the forest, act as natural firebreaks. This role of large herbivores was taken over during the last millennia by domesticated livestock. Until…

…the chair of FREE Nature, a Dutch NGO which works to help conservation initiatives in the Netherlands enhance natural grazing by supplying herds of large herbivores. “In terms of conservation,…

…by reducing flammable vegetation, creating natural firebreaks, and opening up forested areas, which lets in more light and allows grass to grow instead of scrub. Outbreaks of catastrophic wildfire are…

Natural grazing is a key ecological process that helps a myriad of species of half-open landscapes, and supports natural and mosaic forest landscapes less prone to fire. Juan Carlos Muños…