What is rewilding and why is it important?

4.2 The European perspective

Within the European Union (EU), the need to restore nature has now also been formally recognised.

A momentous milestone was reached in June 2024 with the adoption of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, widely referred to as the Nature Restoration Law.

The Nature Restoration Law commits EU Member States ‘the long-term and sustained recovery of biodiverse and resilient ecosystems across the Member States’ land and sea areas through the restoration of degraded ecosystems’. (European Commission, 2024b, art. 1.a.)

Read this Regulation - EU - 2024/1991 - EN - EUR-Lex if you would like to learn more.

Each EU Member State is required to create a National Nature Restoration Plan by mid-2026. This must include specific sites and habitat types for restoration, as well as connections to other policies and goals, and ways to fund the restoration activities.

Rewilding has an important role to play in helping EU Member States achieve their regional and international restoration targets.

In trusting nature to manage and restore itself, rewilding can be a very cost-effective way of achieving restoration goals, enhancing biodiversity and addressing climate change. This heightens its appeal in a time when government budgets are under pressure from a wide range of other factors.