Rewilding

Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems.^[1] It is also distinct from other forms of restoration in that, while it places emphasis on recovering geographically specific sets of ecological interactions and functions that would have maintained ecosystems prior to human influence, rewilding is open to novel or emerging ecosystems which encompass new species and new interactions.^[2][3]

A key feature of rewilding is its focus on replacing human interventions with natural processes. Rewilding enables the return of intact large mammal assemblages. This implies the natural groupings of large mammal species in an area to promote the restoration of trophic networks.^[4] The mechanism of rewilding is a process of rebuilding, to restore natural ecosystems by introducing or re-introducing large mammals to promote resilient, self-regulating, and self-sustaining ecosystems.^[5][6] Rewilding projects are usually part of programs for habitat restoration and conservation biology, and ideally they should be based on sound ecological theory and evidence.^[7]

While rewilding initiatives can be controversial, the United Nations has listed rewilding as one of several methods needed to achieve massive scale restoration of natural ecosystems, which they say must be accomplished by 2030^[8] as part of the 30x30 campaign.^[9]