During a recent visit to the Danube Delta, Frans Schepers – CEO of Rewilding Europe – witnessed the resilience of nature and people. Reflecting on his visit, he urgently calls upon our governments and representatives in Brussels to prioritise the enactment of the EU Nature Restoration Law. Immediate action is needed to harness the transformative power of rewilding and secure a better future.
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 Danube Delta is one of Europe’s largest and most important wetlands. Efforts by the Rewilding Ukraine team to restore natural water flow here are great news for Dalmatian pelicans and great news for local communities.
An environmental catastrophe is playing out on the Oder River. As part of a cross-border NGO alliance, the Rewilding Oder Delta team is calling for rigorous investigation, a clear focus on the river’s full-scale restoration, and the abandonment of all harmful hydro-engineering plans.
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 war in Ukraine is taking a terrible toll on people and nature. Yet despite facing many challenges, the resilient Rewilding Ukraine team continue to see their efforts bear fruit.
Our work to stabilize and strengthen interconnected populations of the Dalmatian pelican along the Black Sea-Mediterranean flyway has been recognised by the European Commission’s Natura 2000 Awards. Through reducing the risk of collisions with power lines, the installation of nesting platforms and establishing regular patrols, The Pelican Way of LIFE initiative has helped to create two new breeding colonies in Bulgaria.
A recent webinar gathered 30 participants from 11 European countries and India to learn about the Pelican Way of LIFE initiative, as work continues to improve conditions for Dalmatian pelicans along the Black Sea-Mediterranean Flyway.
How can rewilding enhance nature and the benefits it provides, as well as generate stakeholder support? By answering these questions, a new study in the Oder Delta could lead to the scaling up of rewilding in Germany.
For many years a network of dykes and canals have choked the life out of the Danube Delta. Rewilding efforts in the Ukrainian part of the delta are now restoring water flow, enhancing wildlife populations and benefitting local communities.
