The recovery of nature in Croatia’s Velebit Mountains is enabling an economic shift from hunting to wildlife watching. By putting cameras in the hands of local students, and enabling them to connect with their natural environment, a recent photography workshop highlighted the social benefits of this transition.
Wildlife watching hides can benefit rewilding in many ways. A newly published best practice manual from Rewilding Europe provides guidance for businesses and initiatives that want to develop and operate them.
Rewilding efforts are supporting wildlife comeback in the stunning Velebit Mountains of Croatia. With the abundance of iconic species such as brown bears increasing in the landscape, the local rewilding team are taking steps to ensure communities can live alongside wildlife and benefit economically from its recovery.
Four new wildlife hides have been built – and one renovated – in our Velebit Mountains Rewilding Landscape in Croatia, and are now open for bookings. This marks the start of an exciting new chapter in our partnership with SKUA Nature – one of Europe’s leading wildlife photography organisations dedicated to promoting sustainable nature tourism.
In the Ukrainian Danube Delta, the opening of a new photography hide and the ongoing restoration of forest landscape are enhancing the area’s tourism appeal.
The signing of a new agreement between Rewilding Europe and SKUA Nature Group will boost nature-based tourism and wildlife photography offerings across multiple rewilding areas.
Memorandums of cooperation signed with two parks adjacent to the Velebit rewilding area will strengthen and deepen collaboration on wild nature conservation and the ongoing development of a local nature-based economy.
In the heart of Croatia’s stunning Velebit Mountains, a new way of managing wildlife is revitalising local economies and wild nature.
The hides, which opened in 2016, are now offering fantastic wildlife viewing opportunities in the Velebit rewilding area. Increasingly popular with visitors, they are effectively supporting the development of a local nature-based economy.
Today, conflicts with man still threaten Europe’s large carnivores species, and prevent the full recovery of their populations. In the past, strategies to mitigate these conflicts have varied between different European countries, they have typically focused on keeping large carnivores away from humans, either by eradicating them, or by restricting human access to areas where these carnivores exist.