12 Principles of Rewilding: Rewilding Practitioners Putting Theory in Action

#2 Making hopeful stories come to life

Rewilding is about telling the story of a richer, resilient future, while bringing the vision to life through successful projects. In other words, empowering others to support and join this movement by demonstrating positive results.

The second principle making hopeful stories come to life, acknowledges the core philosophy of rewilding action: hope. Rewilding is a wildly hopeful course of action; it is the act of people collaborating with one another, and with nature, to bring balance, resilience, and beauty back to our lands and oceans.

In essence, rewilding calls for a shift from despair to desire, from theory to action. Real change is possible and already happening, through concerted effort and collaboration.

The principle encourages the sharing of stories where ecosystems have been revitalized, species have returned, and communities have benefited, thereby illustrating that a wilder, more biodiverse planet is within our reach. It empowers others to support and join this movement by demonstrating positive results, with people at the core, enabling practitioners to meet and discuss best rewilding practices – and give people hope.

This principle asks us to imagine a future with ecosystems filled with lifeforms, from smallest to biggest, from fungi to megafauna and everything in between. A vision of a World Rewilded comes into sight; a future richer, healthier and more prosperous is proven through evidence of today’s successful rewilding projects and the expanding global community of courageous optimists turning Hope into Action.

Showcasing rewilding successes on all scales – from the rescue and restoration of the White Rhino across Southern Africa to the microforests of Massachusetts, from the Hargila Army in Assam India, to the rewilding of Bandicoots in Australia – creates real-life stories of Nature’s return, inspiring and involving us, creating a ripple effect. And from ripple effects comes exponential growth.

A wilder, more biodiverse planet is possible. The hopeful stories told become stories of success, of rewilding and of healthy human communities.

#3 Embracing natural solutions and thinking creatively

Rewilding is one of the best available nature-based solutions to the interconnected environmental, social, and economic challenges that we face today. The third principle recognises this, and encourages stewards to design and implement rewilding projects in ways that are ambitious, innovative, proactive, strategic, entrepreneurial and creative.

Rewilding is the act of partnering with nature to avert the biodiversity crisis, the climate emergency, and to restore balance and human-wildlife coexistence. Harnessing a holistic approach to our complex problems. This means improving several different situations by empowering the local to impact the global through creative solutions.

Rewilding projects are ambitious, innovative, proactive, strategic, opportunistic, and entrepreneurial. In short, they are creative nature-based solutions. Our Alliance Partners understand this, and are plotting the way forward:

• The Global Mangrove Alliance, with over 100 organisations involved, has restored 65,000 hectares and counting;
• Sussex Kelp Recovery Project is protecting and restoring 304㎢ of kelp seabed;
• Redemption Against Poverty Org incorporates local communities in the planning, monitoring, and execution of tree planting and restoration efforts of 500 hectares.

These projects have one thing in common: a holistic approach. They illustrate a deep local, ecological and social understanding of the dynamics of rewilding, aimed at benefiting all life on Earth. By finding solutions to the big picture through empowering human and wild heroes, rewilding directly mimics Nature’s creativity.

Rewilding’s natural solutions create livelihoods of all sizes, at all scales. But mostly, it sparks a common reaction found throughout all communities: Hope.

#4 Protecting the best, rewilding the rest

The fourth principle of the Global Charter for Rewilding the Earth highlights past and present work.

Conservation and rewilding work hand-in-hand. Conservation is used when there are relatively intact habitats and wildlife populations, so conservationists can focus on protecting the land. Rewilding is when an area is degraded and there is a need for a return of processes, dynamism, species and community.

Both of these approaches are fundamental.

With one hand, we protect places of incredible natural diversity, learn valuable lessons, and admire the beauty. With the other, we reintroduce keystone species, watch closely, and prove that Nature can heal quickly. In doing so, we recreate natural landscapes.

The Conservation Society of Sierra Leone works at the intersection between approaches. On the one hand, they have restored 6.25 hectares of mangroves protecting vulnerable communities from flooding. On the other hand, they formed a Forestry Management Committee with the local community at the Gaya Yei Community Forest, providing training on forest protection.

There are a multitude of people doing fundamental work with both approaches. Thousands of wonderful ecosystems have retained their balance and health, and active work encouraging wildlife returning and ecosystem functionality is increasing.

Conservation and rewilding are in symbiosis with one another. They co-depend and co-create.

#5 Letting nature lead

Rewilding efforts emphasize nature’s inherent healing powers, with the goal that management interventions would decline or cease over time. Eventually we can let go of control enabling restored natural processes to shape dynamic land and seascapes of the future. But importantly, the role of community and people will be ever present and necessary.

One of the goals of rewilding is reaching a point where Nature’s positive cycles can continue in perpetuity. Ecosystems healthy enough to maintain themselves means they do not need help to heal.

Interventions can then slowly decline – freeing up time and space to benefit from ecosystem services and enjoy the benefits of living within, around or amongst healthy natural cycles.

The implications of letting nature lead can be incredibly positive:

• Beavers shape river flow instead of bulldozers (saving the Czech Republic 2.1 million euros);
• Fish cleaning oysters instead of water-pressure cleaners (and the oysters providing the fish young with safe rearing grounds);
• Wetlands cleaning water instead of filters and preventing flooding.

All of the above ecosystem services save money, time and energy, whilst permitting us to observe and enjoy Nature at work, doing what she does best: providing to countless species, all living thanks to Her generosity.

Over time, we would become a species comfortably integrated in natural processes, healthy and wealthy, happy and willing.

#6 Working at nature’s scale

To speak the language of scale is to speak Nature’s mother tongue. Natural systems operate at many scales continuously – from the leaf of a Baobab to the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean, Nature’s processes are as diversified in scale as they are in wildlife.

Similarly, global rewilding efforts can work place by place, incrementally and at various scales, to rebuild wildlife diversity and abundance. Creating resilience in society and Nature by strengthening natural processes, such as disturbance and dispersal, at all sizes.

A simple yet effective way to hit that target is to build wildlife corridors. Animals can naturally move from one area to another, improving the health of both. Seeds can be dispersed, species population can find balance and economic opportunities can be created.

Corridors like Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative in Africa, Yellowstone to Yukon in the USA and Gondwana Link in Australia create massive roaming grounds for wildlife to move in. Projects of this scale have a massive positive impact on ecosystems and people – drawing down carbon and stabilising weather patterns.

The sheer scale of corridors – marine and land alike – is mind-boggling. And with every hour, more & more land is being connected.

Restoring connectivity between conservation areas ensures an efficient, cost-effective, large-scale approach to nature restoration.

Because to rewild is to look at Nature’s puzzle and restore all components, working at Her diversified scale.

#7 Taking the long view

To ensure sustained positive effects on biodiversity and quality of ecosystem services (such as carbon storage), rewilding efforts must be planned and implemented with a long-term perspective.

Some ecosystem services come back immediately, others take many years. Restoring missing species, removing barriers and reducing pressures can take time. Facilitating coexistence and involving all members of the community takes time.

The positive effects on biodiversity and quality of ecosystem services, such as carbon storage, are long-term goals. The aim is to achieve them in perpetuity, because once the processes are restored, Nature can do the rest.

Once a tree grows tall enough to need less care, the gardener has more time to enjoy the shade. That is why, at the core, rewilding efforts are planned and implemented with a long-term perspective.

To choose rewilding is to choose a wild, healthy future.

#8 Building local economies

The 8th Core Principle from the Global Charter for Rewilding the Earth is a social principle: building local economies.

This principle alludes to the positive impact of thriving nature and healthy ecosystems on people. When natural areas with abundant wildlife are created, expanded, and restored, economic vitality and livelihoods follow.

Because Nature’s vitality is directly linked to economic vitality, so Nature’s comeback benefits people.

Rewilding projects provide employment both within the project and for the adjacent community.

Rewilding sites across Scotland have seen a 412% increase in jobs, with England and Wales also increasing by 93%. Employment data from rewilding sites across the latter two has just confirmed that the number of full-time equivalent jobs on rewilding sites is being sustained at more than double on average compared with those pre-rewilding.

Then there are projects like Itombwe Génération pour l’Humanité. Their work with coffee agroforestry, poultry farming and small livestock like sheep and goats took the pressure off wildlife by providing an alternative to bushmeat – and improved the income of over 2,600 households.

Projects like these, creating nature-positive incomes, rooted in real, on-the-ground necessities of communities and recognising pressure-points on wildlife and ecosystems, are prime examples of rewilding helping to build local economies.

#9 Recalling ecological history and acting in context

The 9th Core Principle is simultaneously the most abstract and interesting.

We can harness the past to inform the future. Recalling ecological history and acting in context means using what we know and of past ecosystems to inform current decisions.

Apis Arborea’s work is an excellent example. They asked themselves: what did wild Honeybees in California do in the past? And how can we replicate that in a way that benefits us all?

Ecological history proved wild Honeybees used to be key pollinators, and the present context proved to be in dire need of wild Honeybees. So they began building Honeybee homes.

This strengthened the population, increasing pollination in the present, and providing key research on wild honeybees. This research now informs future action.

Or the European Bison, a species that used to roam the continent in their tens-of-thousands, gone in the early years of the 20th century. Through targeted reintroductions by a host of organisations, zoos, breeding centres and NGOs like Rewilding Europe, the Bison is making a gradual return, with 7000 individuals now roaming central Europe, in countries like Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.

A rewilding project that looked to the past, saw a need for a species, and acted.

Using historical baselines to restore lost functions is to harness the knowledge of the past and create a better future, without replicating a moment in the past.

Rewilding means working within the social, biological, and physical realities of a territory to foster successful outcomes.

#10 Evidence-based adaptive management

The 10th Core Principle is about acting and reacting. It’s the equivalent of plotting a path but being ready to step onto another at a moment’s notice.

This pivot can be both within rewilding projects – or to rewilding projects.

The best example of a pivot is dated in 2001, on the Knepp Estate in southern England. After realising that the soil and ground of the farm was no longer productive after years of intensive agriculture, the owners decided to try something different: a process-led project where nature takes the driving seat.

Several years later, Knepp Estate is a point of reference in rewilding, and the return of hundreds of species, including some rare ones, has created eco-tourism. This would not have been possible without the first data and without a flexible approach to land management.

Another example of a pivot is on the plains of Galicia. When a wildfire tore through the countryside, Fundación Montescola began removing flammable non-native species and re-wetting the land. Their work was bolstered when evidence from another rewilding project emerged: a wildfire had severely affected neighbouring Portugal, but did minimal damage to an area where wild horses were reintroduced. The horses’ diet of grass and leaves from shrubby trees had reduced the volume of combustible vegetation in the landscape!

So Montescola began reintroducing wild horses.

Rewilding is a learning process, not a fixed plan. The Portuguese wild horses reduced wildfire in one area, so they were reintroduced in another.

Accepting uncertainty is to accept the dynamism of nature and prioritising flexibility, transparency, & continual improvement to achieve resilient, self-sustaining ecosystems.

The return of Nature is a positive outcome for people & planet alike.

#11 Public/private collaboration

At every scale, from local to national, collaboration is central to rewilding.

The second-to-last Core Principle focuses on collaboration, particularly public-private.

At a practical level, rewilding success is rooted in cooperation between governments, private landowners, Indigenous groups, NGOs, businesses, and local communities.

But to bring Nature back fully, we need everyone’s help, all over the world.

Our friends and colleagues of Rewilding Chile know this well. Their work, together with Tompkins Conservation, is in collaboration with various government administrations in Chile to create and expand national parks, crafting the vision of the Route of Parks of Chilean Patagonia. Since 1993, they have helped create 7 national parks and expanded 3 others through the donation of 1,3 million acres to the Chilean State. Their work also spreads to communities surrounding the national parks, fostering bonds of pride and a sense of belonging to the territory through environmental education, promoting knowledge of the natural and cultural heritage.

Collaboration between public and private institutions, academics, and a wide array of organizations regionally and nationally has played a central part in the effective long-term conservation of this land.

In the way that public-private collaboration has helped to expand protected areas, private initiative can catalyze public actions from governments at every scale. And economic frameworks can provide incentives for rewilding.

Aligning efforts with livelihoods, economic incentives, and land stewardship builds long-term support by creating partnerships that benefit both nature and people.

Rewilding success is built on collaboration.

#12 Working together for the good of ourselves and nature

Last but not least, Core Principle 12: working together with Nature.

Nature is our greatest ally.

Rewilding is a collaboration between humans and nature. Healthy ecosystems benefit both wildlife and people. Effective advocates for Nature build coalitions and forge partnerships based on respect, trust, and common interest.

There is no single example of this Core Principle in practice, because all practitioners apply it at all levels, in all cases.

Connecting different disciplines, working intergenerationally and honoring the perspectives of diverse stakeholders will produce successful rewilding results.

The Core Principles are applied in rewilding. All of our Partners – and all rewilding practitioners – apply several, if not all, of these practices.

Rewilding is a wildly hopeful course of action. Rewilding is a pathway to a healthier, more resilient future. Join us in rewilding together.

Choose Our Future

Terry Tempest Williams once wrote, “The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time.”

In this present moment of profound decision for humanity, when our choices will affect every person on Earth, our descendants, and all our relations in the community of life, rewilding offers a wildly hopeful course of action. We can weave wondrous blue and green ribbons that wrap the Earth in beauty, offering the promise of a better future, with freedom and habitat for all. Rewilding is the future we choose.

#ChooseOurFuture