On the face of it Scotland is fertile rewilding ground. From a human population of around 5.3 million, around one third of people live in just a handful of major cities, leaving the rest of Scotland’s 80,000 sq.km. sparsely populated by European standards.
I can easily say that for me September this year was the ‘bison month’. At the beginning of this month, I participated at the annual European bison conference in Poland where we discussed the status and progress on the return of Europe’s largest living land mammal. Then, I travelled all the way to Canada to show the North American bison conservationists what we are doing over here in Europe to support our own bison species, and learn from the work done on the American bison. It turns out that there are quite some similarities between our intercontinental stories about these iconic animals.
Funded through the Krombacher Brewery Species Conservation Project, the Oder Delta team has started to work on improving the breeding and feeding habitats of the lesser spotted eagle. The work started this spring is a great example of how a company can support nature conservation and rewilding.
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.
During the last few weeks, 11 black vultures were equipped with satellite transmitters in Dadia National Park, in the Greek part of the Rhodope Mountains. These transmitters will provide important scientific data about the distribution, movements and possible threats, which will further help identify future conservation actions for the species in this region. These actions are part of the LIFE Vultures project.
This October, Rewilding Rhodopes organized a special training course on the management and development of wildlife watching enterprise and wildlife photography in Madzharovo, Bulgaria. The training was part of the LIFE Project “Conservation of black and griffon vultures in Rhodope Mountains” (LIFE Vultures), and connected more than 30 participants that gained valuable knowledge, exchanged experiences and ideas.
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.
On Threatened Species Day (7th September) 2016 Rewilding Europe’s Managing Director, Frans Schepers, gave a keynote address at an event that we hope will turn out to have been an important moment in the history of conservation in Australia. The National Rewilding Forum, held at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, aimed to bring together academics, practitioners, government and non-government to discuss the relevance of rewilding to Australia. It was the first such gathering of its kind but potentially the first of many!
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.
Last Friday, the Life project “Conservation of Black and Griffon vultures in the cross-border Rhodope Mountains” held its opening ceremony during the International Vulture Awareness Day celebration in Bulgaria. The project focuses on the recovery and further expansion of black and griffon vulture populations in this part of the Balkan region, simultaneously developing nature based tourism thus providing long-term benefits for the local communities.