REWILDING MYTHS & FAQs : 

It is about restoring the web of life, from cities to low-grade farmland to the wildest places on the planet, and embracing natural solutions to environmental, social and economic challenges. Often, rewilding involves reintroducing lost species, letting nature take the lead where possible but helping where necessary.

There are rewilding efforts in big cities like London, where Beavers and many other species are being brought back after being missing for hundreds of years, through to vast landscapes in Chile and Argentina, where Alliance Partners have created 18 new national parks and are bringing back beautiful species such as Giant Otters, Red and Green Macaws, Leopards, Pumas and Huemel Deer, taking out fences that prevent their migrations and movements.

Learn more about rewilding here.

Most of our planet’s lands and seas have been vastly modified by humans, with climate change creating havoc as a result. Rewilding repairs broken ecological systems and thereby provides ‘ecosystem services’ such as clean air and water, and the prevention of floods, fires and droughts, as well as enhancing species survival and the ability of restored ecosystems to draw down and store carbon.

Rewilding even reduces the risks of pandemics such as Covid. Perhaps more importantly than anything, rewilding brings practical hope in an age where too many people have withdrawn from environmental issues.

Read about the benefits of rewilding here.

The bigger the landscape, the more it is possible to let natural rewilding processes take over. However, it is also the case that our Alliance Partners such as C40 Cities are bringing nature back in cities, close to where the majority of people now live. As London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said: “This is a matter of social justice” to give people the benefits that flow from contact with nature as well as the ecosystem services such as clean air and water.

Check out rewilding projects around the world.

Some species need a lot of help if they move or breed slowly, for example, or are very rare, whilst some need much less help – for example if they are more mobile. Effective rewilding involves restoring habitats, reintroducing keystone species, and involving local people, supported by careful thought, research and evidence. Rewilding also benefits from scientific research and a conducive policy environment. Done well, rewilding requires knowledge, planning and adaptive management.

Rewilding is also about the way we think. It is about understanding that we are one species among many, bound together in an intricate web of life that ties us to the atmosphere, the weather, the tides, the soils, freshwaters, oceans, and all living creatures on the planet. Check out our 12 principles of rewilding.

Discover our 12 principles of rewilding.

People are at the heart of this global movement; local communities, indigenous peoples and rewilders work together with cooperation and collaboration as a key foundation. One of the key roles of the Global Rewilding Alliance is to help identify the challenges that rewilders around the world share, and then bring them together to identify ways forward and accelerate the learning process.

• using carbon offset funds
• ‘biodiversity net gain’ finance from business and
• various ingenious apps that enable people to donate to rewilding projects, and be kept informed of progress.

Rewilding does not just rely on government grants but also benefits from private donations, corporate sponsorships and donations from the public. Increasingly, rewilders are using tech and big data to verify the efficacy of rewilding actions. Public-private partnerships and eco-tourism can also generate revenue. Discover how you can help.

Human intervention should be strategic, focusing on creating favourable conditions for natural processes. For example, European Bison, having been nearly wiped out, are now bouncing back rapidly but will never reach new locations without assistance, particularly because of the amount of human activity and infrastructure across Europe.

In Mozambique, the whole ecosystem is being reconstructed after the end of the civil war, with to date over 15,000 animals of 29 species being transported hundreds of kilometres. Such rewilding involves research, monitoring, and a central role for community involvement to ensure success. Nature possesses the incredible ability to rebound, but it does need our help!

Almost all Alliance Partners put local communities at the heart of their efforts, drawing on traditional local knowledge, respecting and rebuilding local and indigenous cultures to benefit people and nature alike. At the GRA we are conducting research into how this can best be done.

However, like most things, rewilding is generally more successful the more investment, space and time it is given. The timeline varies based on ecosystem complexity, the extent of degradation and the need for reintroductions of species that are recovering from a low base and therefore need careful breeding programmes and handling. Many of our Alliance Partners have a long-term vision and commitment, sometimes spanning hundreds of years.