The economic opportunity of rewilding

2 Nature tourism

You learned in Module 1 that rural economies, societies and landscapes across much of Europe are changing as more people move to urban areas. This can create challenges, but also opportunities, such as space for nature to recover and wildlife to return so the beauty of wild nature can become an important attraction for visitors.

Nature-based tourism (or nature tourism) has huge potential to be a driver for rewilding, as more and more people live in urban areas and like to escape from time to time. This has resulted in nature-based tourism being a fast-growing sector (Haukeland et al., 2023). It encompasses travel and recreational activities that are centred around immersing oneself in natural environments, while appreciating its biodiversity and efforts to restore nature.

This form of tourism involves visiting natural and attractive landscapes such as forests, mountains, rivers and coastal areas with a strong emphasis on practicing responsible and low-impact ways of travel.

A small wooden cabin covered in snow is situated in a boreal taiga forest in Sweden.The cabin, used as an eagle-watching hide for ecotourism, is surrounded by snow-laden trees under a clear sky with a subtle gradient from light purple to blue. Snow blankets the ground and the roof of the cabin, creating a serene winter scene.

Eagle watching hide at ecotourism site. In winter it can reach -30 C in the boreal Taiga forest. Kalvtrask, Västerbotten, Nordic Taiga, Sweden. Credit: Staffan Widstrand.