Terrestrial rewilding

5 Grasslands

The European context

Like European forests, grasslands in Europe have also been significantly degraded.

Historically, Europe's grassland ecosystems were maintained by the ecological impact of large herbivores. Since the megafauna extinction at the end of the Pleistocene, extensive grazing by livestock has somewhat replaced this natural process.

But with the more recent decline of traditional farming and land abandonment, European grasslands and the rich biodiversity they support are increasingly threatened by encroachment, which means they are gradually turning into forests through vegetation succession.

Today, we have an opportunity to restore these vital ecosystems through rewilding, particularly through the reintroduction of free-roaming large herbivores like European bison and semi-wild bovines.