Large-scale land use agreements in Portugal have proved to be very difficult to achieve, as the average size of rural properties is well under two hectares. Often, land is distributed among several owners, making the task of contacting them very difficult and time-consuming. In addition, some studies state that there are two million hectares of land in Portugal where landowners are not identified.
The first edition of the Erasmus Intensive Programme “European Wilderness Entrepreneurship” was a great success for the Western Iberia rewilding area. During this two week event a consortium of thirty students and fifteen lecturers/researchers from universities in Bulgaria, Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands looked at the role of entrepreneurship to promote the future wilderness of Western Iberia.
After a winter that will be remembered as the wettest in Spain for the past 51 years – according to rainfall data recorded by the Spanish Meteorological Agency AEMET – spring has broken into Western Iberia. These heavy rains have managed to increase water reserves compared to the same dates last year.
Two Returta foals were born in Western Iberia. The birth of these two foals is a great demonstration of their adaptation to the dehesa they live in.
Traditionally, nature conservationists are not trained in business development and entrepreneurship. It is often assumed that nature conservation related professions are guided by ecological and sustainable principles which, therefore, define the educational design of nature conservation curricula. However, the uncertain financial contexts for nature conservation and persistent competing claims by diverse stakeholders concerned, require alternative professional competences to address current conservation challenges.
Last week Juan José Negro, director of the Doñana Biological Station visited the Western Iberia rewilding area. Together with researchers Juan Calderon and Fernando Ibáñez from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) they spent time at the Biological Reserve Campanarios de Azaba.
Rewilding Europe is very excited to announce that Liberty Wildlife Fund, a private foundation in The Netherlands, has decided to support Rewilding Europe for a period of three years.
An episode of the Dutch TV programme “Kanjers Van Goud” (Heroes of Gold) that was filmed in our Western Iberia rewilding area, is now available for watching online.
The Dutch TV company Endemol filmed Staffan Widstrand, Marketing Director of Rewilding Europe, guiding the Dutch TV presenter Martijn Krabbé on an action-filled visit to the Western Iberia rewilding area, for the TV programme “Kanjers Van Goud” (“Heroes of Gold”). This TV programme is connected to the Dutch Postcode Lottery, and will be broadcasted later this year.
We continue to make steady progress as we seek to develop businesses which will support our rewilding objectives. We’re working both to identify and support existing businesses which are relevant to our rewilding areas – and also to design some new businesses where we feel there is an opportunity to create something different and complementary.