In the land- and seasides, there once used to be various species. Rewilding tries to turn landscapes back into species-rich, natural areas that are able to regulate themselves. The idea is to support the species in the beginning and let it off the leash once it is prepared to care for itself. However, humans shall not be excluded from this process. Many rewilding organisations such as Rewilding Europe want society to reconnect with the wild places. As the biodiversity, the species-richness, of the European continent is decreasing in an alarming manner, rewilding approaches this problem by re-introducing species into a variety of areas across Europe.

 

How is this approached?

In many cases, the landscapes that are used are abandoned. This is a worldwide phenomenon: Young people do not want to work in agriculture any more, the work is not profitable, and they move into the cities. In some countries such as Portugal, this poses a serious threat: The area is soon covered by young forest or dense scrub – The ideal conditions for a forest fire to spread. In the recent, dry summers, this has become even more dangerous. For this reason, rewilding wants to introduce herbivores. These can regulate the problems by grazing: The creation of mosaic structures builds natural fire barriers.

 

Another purpose of rewilding is to make regions economically strong without using it in a nature-destructive manner. The introduction of some species gives rise to touristic activity in the region. Therefore, rewilding can help nature and people to solve local problems.

 

Difficulties

Rewilding, of course, is no flawless concept. There are many barriers that must be overcome.

One issue is the responsibility for the rewilding areas. There always is a certain risk that there will be some destructive consequences from rewilding – A recent example is the reintroduction of the wolves: Who is responsible for them killing sheep?

 

Another problem is a financial one. Rewilding is a long-term process that relies on funding by private and governmental funds. This makes rewilding difficult: It is never secure that the funding will be granted in the future. Whenever there is a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy by the EU, the projects are endangered.

 

Additionally, this funding is made more difficult by the fact that the outcomes of rewilding are often unpredictable. The current work is pioneering in the field, therefore it very experimental. This leads to constant insecurity, which can make potential funding difficult.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plays an important role here. While it is clearly stated that this policy shall protect the biodiversity in the country, the truth often looks very different: CAP rather blocks projects such as rewilding and even damages biodiversity through its distribution of subsidies [38].