Ongoing measures to reconnect Lake Kartal with neighbouring lakes and the River Danube are seeing wildlife populations rebound and driving the development of the local economy.

Showcasing ongoing and recently scaled up rewilding efforts in the delta, the new site will connect more people with the area’s unique wild nature.

Removing dams is the best way of restoring rivers. The last European Rewilding Network webinar of 2019 saw 10 members come together to explore the topic and exchange experience and expertise.

Financed by crowdfunding, the removal of 10 obsolete dams on the Kogilnik and Sarata Rivers will help to restore wild nature and should provide economic benefit to local communities.

Coordinated by Rewilding Europe, the “Pelican Way of LIFE” project formally kicked off in Bucharest on November 20. Its pan-European, multi-partner efforts will hopefully boost populations of this important and iconic bird.

The herd of Konik horses shipped to the Danube Delta from Latvia earlier this year is now roaming free. Following a quarantine period the 23-strong group of animals has just been released on Ermakov Island, in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta rewilding area. As the first ever shipment of Koniks into the delta, these hardy herbivores will diversify habitats and enhance local wild nature.

Rewilding Europe completed its first ever translocation of water buffalo last week, with a herd of seven animals successfully released on Ermakov Island in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta. The hefty herbivores will create and maintain a mosaic landscape on the island – thereby supporting the area’s dynamic, wild nature – as well as driving development of local nature-based tourism.

Representing the first ever translocation of Konik horses into the Danube Delta, the shipment of 23 animals travelled by road from Latvia to the Ukrainian village of Orlovka. By helping to create and maintain mosaic landscapes, their grazing will help to boost biodiversity in the Danube Delta rewilding area.

An inaugural grant from the newly established Endangered Landscapes Programme will enable Rewilding Europe and local partners to scale up rewilding efforts across an expansive area of wetland and steppe in the transboundary Danube Delta area. This will bring huge benefits to wild nature and a wide range of local stakeholders.

Taking place at the end of February, this year’s first European Rewilding Network (ERN) webinar saw 17 participants from nine European countries come together online to discuss the challenges of introducing large herbivores.