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.
The Tour du Valat Estate in the Camargue region in southern France is demonstrating how wetlands can be rewilded for the benefit of nature and people. Membership of the European Rewilding Network will enhance the estate’s rewilding efforts.
The public-private Nassonia initiative is working to rewild an area of state-owned forest in the Belgian Ardennes. Membership of the European Rewilding Network will enhance rewilding efforts.
Rewilding Capercaillie is Croatia’s only licensed breeding enterprise for capercaillie, a rare and strictly protected bird of mountainous woodland regions, and the largest member of the grouse family. For almost ten years they have been working to reinforce their diminishing population through captive breeding.
Hosted by Rewilding Europe and the Rewilding Apennines team, the Network’s face to face gathering welcomed 36 rewilding practitioners from 12 countries to the rewilding area. The five-day event proved to be an inspiring platform for exchanging knowledge and ideas to accelerate the upscaling of rewilding principles and best practices across Europe.