This year’s third European Rewilding Network webinar saw 17 participants from seven European countries discuss the return of European rivers to their natural, free-flowing state.

The plan, which involved constructing dykes around the Middle Oder wetland in Poland, would have had a catastrophic impact on biodiversity and negatively impacted the work of Rewilding Europe and its partners. The rest of Poland’s inland waterways programme will hopefully now be abandoned.

Attracted to fish stranded in the Stettin Lagoon by August’s low water levels, the huge gathering of eagles drew crowds of photographers and nature lovers. The presence of so many of these majestic birds bodes well for rewilding efforts in the area.

Funding from the German brewery, which has already proved vital to rewilding work  carried out in the delta in 2017, will be used for ongoing river restoration and habitat improvement.

The first gala of the German Postcode Lottery, held in Dusseldorf on 1 February, saw the Oder Delta rewilding team receive a grant for the restoration of the Stettiner Haff and Peene River, both important wetland areas in the German part of the Oder Delta rewilding area.

Designed to help local nature guides provide and benefit from a professional service, the publication is part of ongoing efforts to develop sustainable, nature-based tourism in and around the Oder Delta rewilding area.

A keen advocate of rewilding, Tim Kasoar is a fourth year PhD student at Cambridge University in the UK. A particular interest in restoring wetland and floodplain habitats and natural flood dynamics took him to the Oder Delta rewilding area, where he witnessed firsthand the beneficial impact of river restoration on local biodiversity.

The recent shooting of a wild European bison in eastern Germany highlights the urgent need to plan more carefully for wildlife comeback across our continent.

Programme’s proposed measures would have a catastrophic impact on biodiversity and negatively impact the work of Rewilding Europe and its partners.

This spring proved to be a very interactive one for Rewilding Europe’s Oder Delta team.