What's next for rewilding?

This event discussed the current research and conceptual priorities for rewilding to be broadly adopted by legislators and practitioners.

Focus was brought on the UK, a country whose decision to leave the European Union has triggered a significant reshaping of the environmental policy landscape, thereby opening policy windows for rewilding to become part of the national toolkit for boosting biodiversity.

Rewilding has emerged as a captivating, but controversial, concept in conservation.

Depending on how rewilding is defined, it aims to increase “wildness” of nature, regenerate ecosystem functioning, develop self-sustaining ecosystems, or achieve a combination of these.

The concept is however gaining traction, particularly in the UK: several conservation NGOs have started to implement rewilding projects and/or develop policies or institutional strategies anchored on the tenets of rewilding.

Others have started promoting rewilding as a principle in conservation legislation, and intergovernmental entities such as the Convention on Biological Diversity have been exploring the potential for rewilding to contribute to biodiversity conservation goals.

To date, however, relatively little legislation, policy and best-practice guidance for rewilding exists, and other concepts, such as natural capital, are also appealing to policy makers keen to identify environmental management approaches that benefit wildlife and people.

Speakers

• Henrike Schulte to Bühne, Institute of Zoology, ZSL and Imperial College London: "The policy consequences of defining rewilding"
• Paul Jepson, Ecosulis Ltd: "Aligning rewilding and natural capital to create ambitious nature recovery policy"
• William Farren, Institute of Zoology, ZSL and University of Reading: "Megafauna and Rewilding: Importance, Practicalities and Potential"