A grant from Rewilding Europe’s European Wildlife Comeback Fund has enabled the translocation of roe deer and Sorraia horses to Sintra-Cascais Natural Park in central Portugal. In conjunction with other herbivores, the animals will help to enhance biodiversity, mitigate wildfire risk, and support the growth of nature-based tourism.
Rewilding Europe’s pioneering European Rewilding Network is 10 today. As it goes from strength to strength, this unique collective is enabling the practice and impact of rewilding to be scaled up right across Europe.
The efforts of Kernow Conservation, an NGO working to restore water vole populations across the county of Cornwall in the UK, will be enhanced through membership of the European Rewilding Network. A grant from the European Wildlife Comeback Fund has just enabled the Kernow team to release voles in southern Cornwall.
Hungary is a country just beginning its rewilding journey, and so we are delighted to welcome the Pentezug initiative, which aims to rewild open grasslands using semi-wild grazers with minimal human intervention.
The European Rewilding Network’s newest member is dedicated to Scottish wildcat conservation and recovery. Around 20 wildcats will be released into the wild each year, with the first releases beginning in June 2023.
A pioneering initiative saw the release of roughly sixty dung beetles in the Landes De Gascogne (Gascony Moors), France, this week. The release, supported by the European Wildlife Comeback Fund, supports restoring crucial natural processes in the soil.
The dunes, moors and marshes of the French southwest coast were once widely grazed by feral bovines. The newest member of the European Rewilding Network is restoring the influence of large herbivores here, enhancing biodiversity and helping to maintain the site’s characteristic patchwork of habitats.
The Italian association Paliurus aims to develop a sustainable nature-based tourism paradigm on the Adriatic coast, protecting and restoring a wilder river delta, supporting local jobs and enhancing the region’s natural diversity.
The Taurus Foundation, dedicated to creating a substitute for the extinct aurochs that is best able to thrive in contemporary natural grazing schemes and wild landscapes, has become the latest organisation to join the European Rewilding Network. Julia Mata, the European Rewilding Network Coordinator, celebrated the news, saying, “This certification is long overdue. The Taurus foundation has been doing amazing work on the Tauros Programme, and we are very happy to welcome them into the European Rewilding Network.”
Scottish NGO Seawilding is working to restore seagrass beds and oyster populations in Loch Craignish, while supporting the creation of green jobs. Joining the European rewilding network will amplify the benefits for nature, climate and local communities.