Towards a holistic approach to rewilding in cultural landscapes

Abstract

In recent years, rewilding has been attracting growing attention as novel, process‐oriented concept supporting ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation. Rewilding aims to strengthen the adaptive capacity of ecosystems by restoring natural processes and withdrawing anthropogenic interventions. Yet, diverging understandings, conceptions and definitions of rewilding result in a somewhat fuzzy concept. So far, the scientific discussion focused primarily on biological and ecological effects and success factors of rewilding. However, particularly in Europe, which is characterised by densely populated areas and a long history of landscape cultivation, rewilding affects also socio‐economic and socio‐cultural dimensions Based on a synthesis of current scientific publications, we argue that rewilding should be understood as an increase in wildness, that is restoring the autonomy of natural processes and self‐sustaining ecosystems in order to overcome the improper dualistic understanding of human‐nature relationships in which humanity is outside of nature. We identify knowledge gaps and emphasise the need for inter‐ and transdisciplinary research on rewilding to develop a holistic approach to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration. In this context, we particularly emphasise the temporal dynamics of changes in landscapes, which are often long‐term and therefore difficult to monitor, the openness of rewilding processes and the associated uncertainty about end states, as well as the complexity of human‐nature relations and the associated value pluralism. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Rewilding as a Multifaceted Concept and Emerging Approach: The Romanian Experience

“…The term "rewilding" has been used concerning a variety of topics differing over time about varying geographical reference points [13]. Based on the six different uses of the term rewilding in the academic literature by Jørgensen [14], the following rewilding concepts were defined more recently: the "three Cs"-cores, corridors, carnivores; Pleistocene megafauna replacement; island taxon replacement; release of captive-bred animals to the wild; landscape restoration through species reintroduction; productive land abandonment; and restoration of self-sustaining ecosystems [13].…”

Wilding cities for biodiversity and people: a transdisciplinary framework

“…Finally, rewilding and the quest for wild nature seek to maintain a conceptual separation between nature and culture, but in a dialectical relationship to recognise nature's otherness, rather than dualism (Maris, 2018). It is in this sense that rewilding is an interesting concept for questioning the history of human-nature relations and imagining future cohabitation (Carver et al, 2021;Gammon, 2018;Massenberg et al, 2023).…”

“…With this increase in the diversity of practices claiming to be rewilding, we are seeing the emergence of criticism suggesting that the concept is too plastic and vague to be truly operational (Jørgensen, 2015; Hayward et al ., 2019). In order to minimise confusion, a unified concept of rewilding has been proposed, specifying that whatever the practices used, they always refer to the same major objective; promoting the autonomy of natural processes and self‐sustaining ecosystems by minimising human intervention (Carver et al ., 2021; Massenberg et al ., 2023; Prior & Ward, 2016; Gammon, 2018). Furthermore, rewilding practices focus on facilitating functional complexity and the adaptive capacity of ecosystems, rather than on the restoration of a particular state with a predefined species composition (Fernández et al ., 2017; Jepson, 2016; Perino et al ., 2019).…”

“…Rewilding has mainly been applied and discussed in large areas with low levels of human activity, and in areas where agriculture is in decline (Pereira & Navarro, 2015). Although rewilding in highly anthropised landscapes such as cities raises major socio‐ecological questions, it has received much less attention (Massenberg, Schiller & Schröter‐Schlaack, 2023). Urban wild spaces can generate aesthetic experiences that are very different from those of tended spaces (Prior & Brady, 2017).…”

Naturalness and principle pluralism in conservation

“…At the other extreme, if a species verges on global extinction, any active management reducing this threat should be implemented, including resource provisioning and captive breeding, even if the threat of extinction is only suspected to be anthropogenically related (Scott et al, 2010). However, often the conditions are more complex, as is evident in many rewilding projects (Massenberg et al, 2023). Carver et al (2021) formulate 10 principles of rewilding, of which 7 are working principles.…”