Engaging local people and businesses is critical to the success of rewilding efforts. In the Central Apennines rewilding area in Italy, two recent community events helped to spread the word about rewilding and connect residents with the wild nature on their doorstep.

The rewilding of land, even on a relatively small scale, can enrich wild nature and the lives of people connected to it. Joining the European Rewilding Network will help Green Sod Ireland deliver its community-focused rewilding vision.

With its focus on online content creation and field-based exploration, the Lupi EcoClubs programme is taking nature-based education to the next level.

Held in the village of Pettorano sul Gizio, many of whose residents are already experiencing the economic benefits of rewilding, the event brought together entrepreneurs from across Italy.

How can wild nature help to develop a region? At the beginning of May a group of social entrepreneurship professors and students met with community representatives in the Southern Carpathians rewilding area for a brainstorming session. The ideas they generated will help to develop nature-based business and reinforce the connection between people and locally reintroduced bison.

Rewilding isn’t only about nature – it’s about people too. The support, trust and passion of local communities will always be vital to the success of rewilding projects, regardless of scale and location. Gaining that support means ensuring that people can earn a fair living from the wild, and reaching out and building relationships through effective stakeholder communication.

The Bison Visitor Centre in Armeniș, Țarcu Mountains, Romania, is now presenting scientific data about the bison in a playful and immersive way. It has the biggest holographic projection in Europe with two more installations that were built at the crossroads between art and technology. The data feed, animating the installations, is being continuously collected from the field by trainees from Romania and abroad who study different relevant subjects related to natural sciences. They live and work in the nearby village of Feneș, at the Research Station which was inaugurated this August.