Welcome to the Global Rewilding Alliance blog…
An inspiring collection of rewilding stories, thought-pieces, reflections, news items and more.
Stoking nature’s fire (and the flames within)
It is Midsummer’s Eve, and as the sun slides towards the tree-obscured horizon behind me, I sit facing south, looking for ripples. My seat is a log by the edge of a large pond, in a place whose name is not important here. Beyond the water stand birches and pines, and above their green fringe rises a bald mountain ridge; but it is the pond’s topaz-blue veneer that holds my gaze…
This is the first of a series of Rewilding Reflections, in which Joe Gray takes us on some thoughtful journeys through the wider dimensions of rewilding.
Rewilding European Bison, Golden-headed Lion Tamarins and kelp forests
In this article, we introduce you to three rewilding organisations from our network so that you can hear each week about some of the exciting success stories, challenges and ambitious aims. This week, we are rewilding Bison in the UK, our ocean’s kelp forests and find out how the recovery of Golden-Headed Lion Tamarins shows hope for the entire ecosystem in Brazil. We warmly welcome three new Alliance Partners: Wilder Blean Bison Project, AMAP Brasil and Oceanwise.
Photo credit: AMAP Brazil
Global Rewilding Communicators Network: June 2024 Edition
The Global Rewilding Communicators Network, an initiative by the Global Rewilding Alliance, aims to connect communicators active in the rewilding movement from all around the world. Our goal is to unite people across the movement, share best practices, highlight upcoming events, celebrate successes, and foster connections to better support one another. This article outlines all of the stories, ideas and next steps from the call.
Photo credit: Shazzashaw from Getty Images Signature
Rewilding African plains, Brazilian coastal islands and Indonesian native forests
Rewilding is happening now all over the world, both on land and at sea, bringing back key species and restoring entire ecosystems at all scales. We introduce 3 new Alliance Partners: Samara Karoo Reserve, Instituto Fauna Brasil and Junglo.
Photo credit: Mitch Reardon, Samara Karoo Reserve
Rewilding Hope Land to Sea Conference June 2024
‘Rewilding Hope – Land to Sea’, hosted by Climate Action North, was a two-day conference that brought an array of rewilders together to share hopeful rewilding stories, challenges and ambitions. This UK-focused conference still holds relevance at a global scale, especially because so many of the running themes, topics and challenges across the event are widely applicable, and the level of expertise was high.
Photo Credit: Slaney Maciel from Getty Images
Rewilding Jaguars in Argentina: From Individuals to Ecosystems
Location: Argentina, South America
While the rewilding movement is operating on a truly global scale, it is good to remind ourselves that the interconnected whole is one that comprises individuals. Rewilding, after all, is built on the reinvigoration of individual ecosystems. The saving of individual species. And, in Argentina, for instance, the reintroduction of individual jaguars.
Photo credit: Sebastián Navajas / Rewilding Argentina
Rewilding and the Limits to Growth
Rewilding is a timely, systemic and fundamental approach. To understand its relevance it is worthwhile to understand the context within which rewilding takes place and to not ignore the key driver behind many problems that we face. 50 years old and unfortunately more valid than ever: Limits to Growth.
Photo credit: Fernando Quevedo
Rewilding mistbelt forests, wild horses and coral reefs
Rewilding is happening now, everywhere. We introduce three Alliance Partners who are rewilding mistbelt forests, wild horses and coral reefs.
Photo credit: seread from Getty Images
Rewilded Bison are climate heroes – new research
New research from Yale University shows that 170 rewilded European Bison in Romania’s Tarcu mountains are helping to draw down and store the equivalent CO2 emissions of removing up to 84,000 average US petrol cars from the road. It turns out that European Bison can play an astonishing role in capturing carbon to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Photo credit: Daniel Mirlea
Reflections on World Rewilding Day
On Wednesday 20th March 2024, we celebrated the 4th edition of World Rewilding Day (WRD). This has been a focal point for much of our work at the GRA over the last few months and reflects the growth and transformation the global rewilding movement has undergone over the last year.
This year, the day exceeded our expectations in terms of magnitude, reach and sophistication, demonstrating the hard work that Alliance Partners all around the world have been putting in, and the hope that they have transformed into action.
2024 World Rewilding Day Theme Announced: Hope Into Action
Rewilding is a global movement, happening in diverse landscapes in every corner of the world. As we gear up for the 4th World Rewilding Day on March 20, 2024, the Global Rewilding Alliance is excited to reveal this year’s theme:
Hope Into Action
Photo credit: WWF-Australia & Tasmanian Land Conservancy
Global Rewilding News EPISODE 3
In EP3, we give you the recent rewilding success stories and hopeful news – from a COP28 round-up, the successful mangrove restoration in the world’s largest delta, all the way to the howl of wolves returning to the Rocky Mountains. This episode welcomes whales, wolves, wolverines, parakeets and many more.
Photo Credit: Prashanta Sarkar
The Community that Coexists with Elephants
Location: Kenya, Africa
Surrounding the freshwater Lake Jipe in Kenya, that teems with wildlife of all kinds, the local elephants graze the reeds alongside the local village fishermen, having made their daily walk directly through the village to get there. Elephants and humans coexist peacefully here.
As our Alliance Partner, Save the Elephants, was conducting their insightful research on elephant behaviour, they uncovered this unique coexistence between humans and elephants. Their work is essential to understanding the core of rewilding: the involvement of local communities.
As socioeconomic pressures rise, the importance of nurturing this positive mutual coexistence is key to effective conservation and rewilding efforts. The story holds insights for projects that are restoring wildlife around the world.
Photo credit: Anthony Ochieng
Location: Kenya, Africa
On the edge of Kenya’s vast Tsavo West National Park lies Lake Jipe – one of the country’s most important wetlands and home to fish, hippos, crocodiles and unique birdlife. Migratory and water birds frequent its reedy shores; these include storks, egrets, pelicans, spur-winged plovers and many more. Jipe forms a biodiversity rich ecosystem.
Photo credit: Anthony Ochieng
Rewilding Makes Good Headway at COP 28
Recap of COP 28 Achievements: Partnering with Nature for Climate Solutions We are pleased to say that at COP28, the rewilding message really achieved traction: We must partner with nature. Animals are the unsung heroes of the carbon cycle, animating the carbon cycle one paw, wing, and fin at a time! The Global Rewilding Alliance collaborated on 5...
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal. Photo credit: UNEP, 2023; Todd BrownThe UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a global initiative aimed at protecting and revitalising ecosystems worldwide for the benefit of both people and nature. Its goal is to stop ecosystem degradation and restore them to meet global objectives. Healthy ecosystems are essential...
Global Rewilding News EPISODE 2
Photo Credit: Alamy
In Episode 2, we give you the recent rewilding success stories and hopeful news – from a town made for polar bears to lion cubs released back to the wild. Success stories from our Alliance Partner organisations, news stories from every continent and suggestions for positive things that you could do. Get involved! Feel free to send us your stories. Let’s spread positive news, inspiration and hope!
Making Rewilding Mainstream
At the Global Rewilding Alliance, our commitment goes beyond restoring ecosystems; we're dedicated to mainstreaming rewilding itself in practice, policy and science. Our goal is to bridge the gap between groundbreaking scientific discoveries and real-world impact, shaping policies and best practices that pave the way for a wilder, healthier, and...
Rewild Your Life: Everyone Can Do It, Here’s Where To Start!
In our busy modern lives, it’s easy to feel disconnected from nature, from ourselves, and those around us. The persistent call to rewild and return to a more authentic way of living is loud and clear. And while some of us have thought at some point in life about abandoning it all to live with goats on a remote mountainside, the reality often...