Rewilding Europe’s first ever gathering sees team members, partners and supporters come together to review progress, look ahead to a wilder future and witness the launch of “Europe’s Five”.

Representatives of ten European Rewilding Network sites came together in March to discuss how social science and raising awareness can achieve better human-wildlife coexistence and mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

Today, conflicts with man still threaten Europe’s large carnivores species, and prevent the full recovery of their populations. In the past, strategies to mitigate these conflicts have varied between different European countries, they have typically focused on keeping large carnivores away from humans, either by eradicating them, or by restricting human access to areas where these carnivores exist.

Rewilding Europe was delighted to welcome the ERN’s 50^th member in January. The Carnivores.cz initiative is a conservation programme of Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, supporting the natural recovery of wolves, lynx and bears in the Western Carpathians.

Effective communication with local stakeholders is a crucial part of any rewilding project. In December 2016 various members of the European Rewilding Network came together in a webinar to discuss their experiences with stakeholders and establish best practice.

Rewilding Europe warmly welcomes three new members into the European Rewilding Network (ERN). These new members are rewilding initiatives from Ukraine, Finland and Portugal. Since its launch at WILD10 in Salamanca in October 2013, the network doubled in size and is now counting 42 members from 22 European countries and eight areas of Rewilding Europe.

We are thrilled to announce that last week, the Board of Directors of the Dutch Postcode Lottery decided to continue its cooperation with Rewilding Europe. Based on a formal evaluation completed this year, the Board made this positive decision which means that Rewilding Europe will continue to receive financial support for the period 2017–2021. Since 2011, Rewilding Europe received 2 million Euro from the Dutch Postcode Lottery. This support has shown to be instrumental for our initiative.

This October, the 12^th web-based seminar of the European Rewilding Network took place through our online platform. Members from various European countries gathered to discuss and exchange knowledge about the restoration of river systems and how to involve communities. Two successful showcases were presented (Sweden and Finland) and participants learned what it takes to bring change for nature and local wildlife, as well as for its people.

We are excited to announce the release of Rewilding Europe’s first promotional film today, presenting our vision for a wilder Europe. Take a few moments and travel with us to some of the rewilding areas in which we work, learn about the historic opportunities for rewilding, and how this can benefit both nature and people.

We regret to announce that recently, Rewilding Europe had to decide to withdraw from the Eastern Carpathians rewilding area. The main reason is that, despite several years of trying, we have found that at the moment there is no enabling environment for a major rewilding initiative in the region.