2026-01-05 Rewilding: Restoring Ecosystems from the Ground Up
Rewilding: Restoring Ecosystems from the Ground Up
In 1995, fourteen gray wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park after a seventy-year absence. What followed was one of the most remarkable ecological transformations ever documented. The wolves changed the behavior of overgrazing elk, which allowed willow and aspen trees to recover along riverbanks. Those trees stabilized eroding streambanks, cooled water temperatures for trout, and attracted songbirds and beavers. The beavers built dams that created wetlands, which supported amphibians, fish, and waterfowl. The rivers themselves began to change course, carving new channels through revitalized floodplains. A single species reintroduction triggered a cascade of ecological recovery that scientists are still studying three decades later. This is the promise of rewilding: not merely planting trees or protecting parks, but restoring the natural processes and keystone species that allow ecosystems to heal and sustain themselves. At the Rissover Foundation, we support rewilding initiatives that recognize nature’s extraordinary capacity for self-repair when given the right conditions and the return of the species that drive ecological function.
What Is Rewilding?
Rewilding is a progressive conservation approach that aims to restore natural processes and wilderness areas by reintroducing native species, removing barriers to natural ecological function, and allowing landscapes to manage themselves with minimal human intervention. Unlike traditional conservation, which often focuses on preserving specific species or habitats in a static state, rewilding embraces ecological dynamism and the unpredictable, self-organizing nature of healthy ecosystems.
The concept emerged in the 1990s from the work of conservation biologists who recognized that protecting isolated nature reserves was insufficient for maintaining biodiversity. They argued that large-scale ecological processes, particularly the interactions between large predators, herbivores, and vegetation, were essential for ecosystem health. Without these processes, even protected areas gradually lost species and ecological complexity.
Rewilding operates on three core principles often described as the “three Cs”: cores, corridors, and carnivores. Core wilderness areas provide habitat for viable populations of native species. Corridors connect these cores, allowing animals to move between them and maintaining genetic diversity. Carnivores and other keystone species drive ecological processes that maintain habitat diversity and ecosystem function. Together, these elements create landscapes where nature can operate on its own terms.
Modern rewilding has expanded beyond this original framework to encompass a broader vision. It now includes the restoration of natural water flows, fire regimes, and nutrient cycles. It considers the role of large herbivores alongside predators in shaping landscapes. It recognizes that rewilding can occur in degraded farmland, abandoned industrial sites, and even urban areas, not just pristine wilderness. And it increasingly incorporates human communities as partners rather than obstacles in restoration efforts.
The distinction between rewilding and conventional restoration is important. Traditional restoration often involves intensive, ongoing human management to maintain a desired ecological state. Rewilding, by contrast, seeks to establish conditions under which ecosystems can manage themselves. The goal is not a specific endpoint but rather the recovery of natural processes that create and maintain biodiversity without perpetual human intervention.
Key Rewilding Projects Worldwide
Europe has emerged as a surprising leader in rewilding, driven by agricultural policy changes that have made marginal farmland economically unviable. Rewilding Europe, founded in 2011, operates across ten major landscapes spanning more than 6 million hectares. In the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria, the organization has supported the return of European bison, wild horses, and griffon vultures to landscapes that had been stripped of large wildlife during decades of intensive farming and hunting. In Portugal’s Greater Cota Douro Valley, abandoned farmland is transitioning back to Mediterranean forest and scrubland, providing habitat for Iberian wolves, wild boar, and roe deer.
The Knepp Castle Estate in southern England has become one of the most celebrated rewilding projects in the world. In 2001, the owners of this 3,500-acre former dairy farm stopped intensive agriculture and introduced free-roaming herds of longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies, Tamworth pigs, and red and fallow deer as proxies for the wild herbivores that once shaped the English landscape. Within two decades, the estate transformed from depleted farmland into a mosaic of habitats supporting populations of turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons, and purple emperor butterflies, species that had become rare or absent across much of England. The project demonstrated that rewilding could work on relatively small scales and in densely populated countries.
In South America, Tompkins Conservation has rewilded vast areas of Patagonia and Argentina’s Ibera wetlands. The organization has reintroduced jaguars, giant anteaters, and green macaws to areas where they had been locally extinct for decades. The Ibera project alone covers 1.7 million acres and represents one of the most ambitious species reintroduction programs ever attempted in the Americas. Local communities have become partners in managing ecotourism operations that provide sustainable livelihoods connected to wildlife recovery.
Africa’s rewilding efforts often focus on restoring wildlife populations to protected areas that had been degraded by poaching, overgrazing, or conflict. Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, devastated during the country’s civil war, has undergone a remarkable recovery since intensive restoration began in 2004. Wildlife populations have rebounded dramatically, and the park now supports thriving populations of elephants, lions, hippos, and hundreds of bird species while providing employment and education for surrounding communities.
Australia is pioneering rewilding approaches adapted to its unique ecological challenges. Organizations like the Australian Wildlife Conservancy manage predator-proof sanctuaries where endangered marsupials can recover from the devastating impacts of introduced foxes and cats. Larger-scale projects are reintroducing digging mammals like bilbies and bettongs whose soil-turning activities improve water infiltration and seed germination across arid landscapes, demonstrating that even small animals can function as ecosystem engineers.
Species Reintroduction Success Stories
The reintroduction of keystone species represents the most dramatic and publicly visible aspect of rewilding. When these species return to landscapes from which they had been absent, the ecological changes can be profound and far-reaching.
The European bison, or wisent, was hunted to extinction in the wild by 1927, with only 54 individuals surviving in zoos. Through careful breeding programs and reintroduction efforts beginning in the 1950s, free-ranging populations now number over 7,000 animals across Poland, Belarus, Romania, and other European countries. These massive herbivores create open habitat patches in forests through their grazing and browsing, increasing plant diversity and providing habitat for insects, birds, and other species that depend on forest edge environments.
Beaver reintroduction across Europe and North America represents one of the most cost-effective rewilding interventions available. Beavers are ecosystem engineers par excellence, building dams that create wetlands, raise water tables, filter pollutants, reduce flood peaks downstream, and create habitat for fish, amphibians, birds, and invertebrates. In the United Kingdom, where beavers were extinct for 400 years, reintroduction projects on the River Otter in Devon and in Knapdale, Scotland, have demonstrated measurable improvements in water quality, flood management, and biodiversity within just a few years.
The California condor recovery program brought one of the world’s largest flying birds back from the brink of extinction. When the last wild condors were captured in 1987, only 27 individuals remained. Through captive breeding and careful reintroduction, the population has grown to over 500 birds, with more than 300 flying free across California, Arizona, Utah, and Baja California. While the program requires ongoing management to address threats like lead poisoning from ammunition, it demonstrates that even critically endangered species can recover when given dedicated support.
The return of sea otters to portions of the Pacific coast has triggered cascading ecological benefits. Sea otters prey on sea urchins that would otherwise overgraze kelp forests. Healthy kelp forests provide habitat for hundreds of marine species, sequester significant amounts of carbon, protect coastlines from erosion, and support commercial fisheries. The relationship between otters, urchins, and kelp forests illustrates how the loss of a single predator can unravel entire marine ecosystems and how its return can restore them.
White-tailed eagles were reintroduced to Scotland and Ireland after being absent for over a century. These apex predators now nest along coastlines and lake shores, their return supported by reduced pesticide use and legal protections. Their presence has generated significant ecotourism revenue for rural communities, demonstrating the economic value of wildlife recovery alongside its ecological benefits.
Creating Wildlife Corridors
Corridors that connect isolated habitat patches are essential for rewilding success. Without the ability to move across landscapes, animal populations become genetically isolated, vulnerable to local catastrophes, and unable to colonize suitable habitat as conditions change. Wildlife corridors address these challenges by creating continuous or semi-continuous pathways through which animals can travel, disperse, and maintain connections with other populations.
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative represents one of the most ambitious corridor projects in the world. Spanning over 2,000 miles from Yellowstone National Park to Canada’s Yukon Territory, this initiative works to maintain and restore ecological connectivity across the Northern Rocky Mountains. The corridor supports the movement of grizzly bears, wolverines, lynx, mountain caribou, and dozens of other species that require vast territories to maintain viable populations.
In Central America, the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor connects protected areas from southern Mexico through Panama, creating a continuous pathway for jaguars, tapirs, and other wide-ranging species. The corridor incorporates diverse land uses including sustainable forestry, shade-grown coffee plantations, and agroforestry systems that provide connectivity while supporting local livelihoods.
Europe’s Green Belt follows the route of the former Iron Curtain, where decades of military exclusion inadvertently created a continuous strip of relatively undisturbed habitat from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. This corridor now connects national parks, nature reserves, and rewilding areas across 24 countries, providing pathways for wolves, lynx, bears, and other species recolonizing landscapes from which they were long absent.
Urban wildlife corridors are increasingly recognized as important for maintaining biodiversity in and around cities. Green bridges, wildlife underpasses, and naturalized stream corridors allow animals to move through urban areas safely. These corridors provide benefits beyond wildlife, including recreation opportunities, stormwater management, air quality improvement, and green space for urban residents.
Technology is enhancing corridor planning and monitoring. GPS tracking of wildlife movements reveals actual dispersal routes and identifies critical bottlenecks where corridors are most needed. Genetic analysis of wildlife populations measures connectivity and identifies isolated populations that require corridor restoration. Remote sensing and habitat modeling predict where corridors will be most effective under future climate scenarios.
Community Involvement in Rewilding
The success of rewilding projects depends fundamentally on the support and participation of local communities. Projects imposed from outside without meaningful community engagement consistently fail, generating resentment and opposition that undermine conservation goals. The most effective rewilding initiatives involve communities as partners from the earliest planning stages and ensure that local people benefit tangibly from ecological restoration.
Community-based rewilding recognizes that people who live in and around rewilding areas possess invaluable knowledge about local ecology, land use history, and cultural practices that can inform restoration approaches. Farmers understand soil conditions and seasonal patterns. Hunters know wildlife behavior and population trends. Indigenous communities hold generations of ecological knowledge about species interactions and landscape management. This knowledge complements scientific expertise and often identifies restoration opportunities that external experts would miss.
Economic benefits must be distributed fairly among community members for rewilding to maintain long-term support. Ecotourism is one of the most visible economic benefits, but it must be structured so that local people own and operate tourism businesses rather than simply serving as employees of outside operators. Nature-based enterprises including sustainable forestry, wild food harvesting, and artisanal products create additional income streams tied to healthy ecosystems.
Compensation and incentive programs help address the real costs that rewilding can impose on local communities. Livestock depredation by reintroduced predators is a legitimate concern that requires fair compensation systems and support for coexistence measures like livestock guardian animals, protective fencing, and modified grazing practices. Crop damage by expanding herbivore populations similarly requires management strategies developed in partnership with affected farmers.
Education and outreach programs build understanding of rewilding goals and ecological processes among community members. School programs that engage children in wildlife monitoring, habitat restoration, and ecological research create the next generation of conservation advocates. Community science initiatives allow local people to contribute meaningful data while developing connections with local wildlife and ecosystems.
Challenges and Controversies
Rewilding is not without significant challenges and legitimate controversies that must be acknowledged and addressed for the movement to achieve its potential. Critics raise important concerns about land use conflicts, predator management, cultural impacts, and the practical limitations of ecological restoration.
Land use conflicts arise when rewilding competes with agricultural production, development interests, or other human land uses. In regions where farming communities depend on every available hectare, proposals to take land out of production for rewilding can threaten livelihoods and food security. Successful rewilding projects must demonstrate that ecological restoration and sustainable land use can coexist, rather than treating them as mutually exclusive.
Predator reintroduction generates the most intense controversy. Farmers and ranchers legitimately fear livestock losses from wolves, bears, and other large predators. Rural communities may face safety concerns that urban rewilding advocates do not share. Historical conflicts between humans and predators left deep cultural scars that cannot be dismissed. Effective predator management requires balancing ecological benefits with human safety and economic concerns through evidence-based coexistence strategies rather than ideological arguments from either side.
The question of ecological baselines presents philosophical and practical challenges. What historical state should rewilding aim to restore? Pre-industrial landscapes? Pre-colonial ecosystems? Pleistocene conditions with mammoths and saber-toothed cats? Different baseline choices lead to dramatically different rewilding approaches. Most practitioners now avoid fixed baselines, instead focusing on restoring ecological processes that support biodiversity and ecosystem function regardless of any specific historical reference point.
Climate change complicates rewilding by shifting the environmental conditions under which ecosystems operate. Species reintroduced to their historical ranges may find that climate conditions have changed enough to make those areas unsuitable. Corridor planning must account for species range shifts under warming scenarios. Restoration targets may need to accommodate novel ecosystems rather than attempting to recreate historical conditions that no longer match current or future climate.
Invasive species present ongoing challenges for rewilding projects. Non-native plants and animals can colonize rewilded areas, outcompeting native species and disrupting the ecological processes that rewilding aims to restore. Managing invasives while minimizing intervention requires careful monitoring and adaptive management approaches.
Urban Rewilding
Rewilding is not limited to remote wilderness areas. Urban rewilding applies rewilding principles to cities and towns, creating spaces where natural processes can operate within the built environment. As the majority of the global population now lives in urban areas, urban rewilding offers opportunities to reconnect people with nature while providing essential ecosystem services.
Derelict industrial sites, abandoned lots, and neglected urban waterways often harbor surprising biodiversity precisely because they have been left alone. Urban rewilding recognizes the ecological value of these spaces and works to enhance their natural potential rather than replacing them with conventional parks or development. These sites can become wild urban oases that support pollinators, birds, amphibians, and other wildlife while providing green space for human communities.
River and stream restoration represents one of the most impactful forms of urban rewilding. Removing concrete channelization and restoring natural stream corridors creates habitat for fish and wildlife while improving flood management and water quality. Daylighting buried streams, where underground waterways are brought back to the surface, transforms neglected urban corridors into vibrant ecological features that benefit both wildlife and human communities.
Green roofs, living walls, and naturalistic plantings bring wild elements into the urban fabric. When designed with ecological function in mind rather than purely aesthetic considerations, these features can support pollinators, migratory birds, and other urban wildlife while reducing building energy consumption, managing stormwater, and improving air quality.
Urban rewilding also involves changing management practices in existing green spaces. Reducing mowing frequency allows wildflowers to bloom and insects to complete their life cycles. Leaving fallen wood and leaf litter provides habitat for invertebrates and fungi. Planting native species instead of ornamental exotics supports local wildlife food webs. These low-cost interventions can dramatically increase the ecological value of urban parks and green spaces.
Community involvement is especially important in urban rewilding because these projects occur in densely populated areas where residents have direct stakes in how landscapes are managed. Volunteer planting events, citizen science monitoring programs, and community gardens that incorporate wild areas build public support while creating social connections around shared ecological spaces.
Economic Benefits of Rewilding
The economic case for rewilding is increasingly compelling, challenging the assumption that conservation and economic development are inherently opposed. Rewilded landscapes generate economic value through multiple channels that often exceed the returns from the intensive land uses they replace.
Ecotourism driven by rewilding generates substantial revenue for local economies. Wildlife watching is one of the fastest-growing tourism segments globally. Communities near rewilding projects that support charismatic species like wolves, bears, eagles, or bison attract visitors who spend money on accommodation, food, transportation, and guide services. The economic multiplier effects of nature tourism often exceed those of the extractive industries they replace.
Ecosystem services provided by rewilded landscapes have measurable economic value. Natural flood management through restored wetlands and beaver activity reduces flood damage costs for downstream communities. Carbon sequestration by recovering forests and peatlands generates revenue through carbon markets. Water purification by healthy watersheds reduces treatment costs for water utilities. Pollination services from wild insect populations support agricultural production on surrounding farmland.
Rewilding can reduce land management costs compared to intensive agriculture on marginal land. Farms that struggle to remain profitable on poor soils or in remote locations may generate better economic returns through rewilding combined with nature-based enterprises. Payment for ecosystem services programs increasingly compensate landowners for the environmental benefits their rewilded land provides, creating revenue streams that can exceed agricultural subsidies.
Employment in rewilding projects provides jobs in ecological restoration, wildlife monitoring, land management, tourism operations, and education. These jobs tend to be rural, addressing the employment challenges that many rural communities face as traditional industries decline. Training programs associated with rewilding projects build local skills and capacity for the growing nature-based economy.
Natural capital accounting is changing how governments and businesses value landscapes. By quantifying the economic benefits of ecosystem services, natural capital approaches demonstrate that rewilded landscapes often represent better investments than degraded or intensively managed alternatives. This shift in economic thinking supports policy changes that favor rewilding and ecological restoration.
The Path Forward
The rewilding movement stands at a pivotal moment. Growing scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of rewilding approaches. Public awareness and enthusiasm are expanding. Policy frameworks in some regions increasingly accommodate or even incentivize rewilding. Yet significant scaling is needed to address the biodiversity and climate crises at the speed and scope that current conditions demand.
Policy reform is essential for rewilding to reach its potential. Agricultural subsidies that incentivize intensive farming on marginal land must be reformed to support rewilding and nature-based alternatives. Planning regulations should accommodate the dynamic, process-driven nature of rewilded landscapes rather than requiring fixed land-use designations. Legal frameworks for species reintroduction need updating to enable faster and more effective restoration while ensuring legitimate community concerns are addressed.
Financing mechanisms for rewilding must expand beyond traditional conservation funding. Carbon markets, biodiversity credits, and payment for ecosystem services programs can generate sustainable revenue streams for rewilding projects. Impact investment funds focused on natural capital are attracting private capital to rewilding at scales that philanthropic funding alone cannot achieve. Blended finance approaches that combine public, private, and philanthropic funding can de-risk rewilding investments and attract mainstream capital.
Scientific research must continue to improve our understanding of ecological processes and restoration techniques. Long-term monitoring of rewilding outcomes provides evidence for adaptive management and informs future projects. Comparative studies across different rewilding approaches identify the most effective strategies for different ecological and social contexts. Predictive modeling helps anticipate how rewilded ecosystems will respond to climate change and other future pressures.
International cooperation enables rewilding at the landscape scale that ecological processes require. Species do not respect national boundaries, and their conservation requires coordinated management across jurisdictions. Transboundary rewilding initiatives connect habitats across countries while building diplomatic relationships around shared environmental goals.
At the Rissover Foundation, we believe that rewilding represents one of the most hopeful and effective responses to the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. By restoring natural processes and returning native species to landscapes where they belong, rewilding activates nature’s own capacity for healing and resilience. The wolves of Yellowstone taught us that ecosystems are interconnected in ways we are only beginning to understand, and that the return of missing pieces can trigger recovery far beyond what we might predict. Our role is not to manage every aspect of nature, but to remove the barriers that prevent ecosystems from managing themselves, to reintroduce the species that drive ecological function, and to build partnerships with the communities who share these landscapes. The path forward requires courage, patience, and a willingness to let nature lead, but the results, as rewilding projects around the world are demonstrating, are nothing short of extraordinary.
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