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The economic opportunity of rewilding

6 Rewilding Enterprises



Now let's return to our rewilding landscape.

Activity: Rewilding as a cost-effective land use option

Allow 15 minutes

An aerial view of a winding river in the Greater Coa Valley, with a dam crossing the water. The river is surrounded by green vegetation, including a tree plantation on one side and natural shrubs on the other. Rolling hills stretch into the distance under a cloudy sky.

Imagine you are the rewilding manager for this same piece of land.

So far, you have:

  • Identified what natural elements are missing (Module 1).
  • Thought about the natural processes that are affected because of those missing elements (Module 2).
  • Considered the different people and organisations that could help you to bring back these elements and processes (Module 3).

Now it’s time to see if you can make rewilding a cost-effective land use option.

A few facts you may not know about the picture above:

  • It contains farmland with its usual running costs and a limited profit margin, and they are in receipt of subsidies.
  • It contains abandoned land which is not in use by people.
  • There are a few established footpaths along the river and hills.
  • You can fish in the river with a permit.
  • Nearby there is a small village with shop, café, school, and guesthouse.
  • There is a town with a railway station and more facilities 30 km away.

Question: What would you do with this land to make rewilding pay for itself? 

You can also refer to answers you gave in Modules 1–3.


Click here to read more.

From your answers, you will notice that some potential income-generating activities need investment to get up and running. As you learned at the start, upfront investments can be needed to change how land and nature are used and experienced in the long term.

You will learn more about funding that can enable these changes in Module 8.