THE CASE FOR REWILDING

In a nutshell, rewilding is exactly what it sounds like - making formerly natural areas wild again. It’s one of many nature-based solutions, and they’re some of the most effective, least harmful ways to make an impact.

The benefits of nature-based solutions.

(and rewilding in particular).

Nature-based solutions are among the least harmful and most effective solutions to the climate crisis that also suffers from the least unforeseen consequences.
Rewilding in particular is increasingly being advocated to address both biodiversity loss and climate change, while often also delivering a range of wider environmental and societal benefits - including everything from increased resilience to climate-related disasters to providing good, green jobs in under-resourced communities.
They offer incredible climate impact. Mangroves and salt marshes, for example, remove carbon 10 times faster (and store five times more of it) per acre than tropical forests.
In terms of increased resilience and adaptation to climate-related disasters impacts, rewilding increases ecological complexity and contributes to mixed landscapes with wetter areas, reducing the risk of wildfire. Mangroves in particular also offer extensive coastal protection benefits, including damping storm surge, decreasing wave height, and reducing tsunami flood depth.

One of the areas rewilding works best is on our world’s coasts, and in these areas that can take many forms; including restoring coastal habitats such as saltmarshes and seagrass beds, expanding woodland cover and above-ground biomass, rewetting peatlands, re-naturalising river channels, and in some cases, re-introducing wildlife.

We help find and vet the most promising projects around the world, offering a wide range of positive impact, including carbon sequestration, benefits to flood risk management, enhanced biodiversity, decreasing runoff, reducing flood risk, and often while providing significant numbers of stable, environmentally-friendly jobs in the communities that need them most.

How does this connect to the coasts?

7 Guiding Principles

We aim to follow best practices around rewilding, particularly the following principles that are coming to characterize and guide rewilding as a distinct approach to conservation.

Restoring natural processes and ecological dynamics, both abiotic such as river flows, and biotic such as the ecological web and food-chain – through reassembling lost guilds of animals in dynamic landscapes.

A gradated and situated approach, where the goal is to move up a scale of wildness within the constraints of what is possible, and inter- acting with local cultural identities.

Taking inspiration from the past but not replicating it. Developing new natural heritage and value that evokes the past but shapes the future.

Creating self-sustaining, resiliant ecosystems (including re-connecting habitats and species populations within the wider landscapes) that provide resilience to external threats and pressures, including climate change adaptation.

Working towards the ideal of passive management, where once restored, we step back and allow dynamic natural processes to shape conservation outcomes.

Creating new natural assets that connect with modern society and economy and promote innovation, enterprise and investment in and around natural areas, leading to new nature-inspired economies.