Nearly 25% of Europe’s Landscape Could be Rewilded, Research Finds

Abandoned farmland near Westing on the island of Unst in Shetland, Scotland. Nirian / E+ / Getty Images

Abandoned farmlands in Europe — which make up nearly 25 percent of the continent’s landscape  — have the potential to be rewilded, according to a new study published in Current Biology.

The researchers found that 289 million acres of European farmland is ripe with rewilding potential, a press release from Cell Press said.

“There are many areas in Europe that have a low enough human footprint, as well as the presence of key animal species, to potentially be rewilded,” said lead author of the study Miguel B. Araújo, a biogeographer with Portugal’s University of Évora and Spain’s National Museum of Natural Sciences, in the press release. “We also highlight the need for different strategies depending on the conditions of each region.”

The research team provided a roadmap for nations to meet the European Biodiversity Strategy’s targets of protecting 30 percent of land by 2030, with 10 percent strictly under conservation.

The team discovered that 70 percent of the opportunities for rewilding the landscape existed in the colder climates of Northern Europe — particularly Scotland, Scandinavia and the Baltics — with the greatest potential in the Iberian Peninsula.

The researchers developed criteria for determining rewilding potential in a given area: extensive land tracts of more than 24,710.5 acres that feature vital species with little human disturbance.

Depending on the size of an area and the animal species who inhabit it, the team also established two rewilding strategies: passive and active.

Passive rewilding relies on the process of natural recolonization, which is where animals gradually and independently come back to abandoned areas. This approach is best for regions that have a healthy key herbivore population — such as deer, moose, ibex and rabbits — in addition to carnivores like bears, lynxes and wolves.

Regions lacking species of key herbivores or carnivores would need active rewilding — the reintroduction of missing species to jumpstart the recovery of the ecosystem. The purpose of both strategies is to create a biodiverse and self-sustaining landscape.

“I often refer to herbivores as the ecosystem engineers as they graze and shape the vegetation, while predators would be the architects creating ‘fear landscapes’ that herbivores avoid,” Araújo said in the press release. “The interaction between herbivores and carnivores creates mosaic patterns in the landscapes, essential for biodiversity.”

Some nations, including France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Scandinavian countries, are poised to achieve their conservation targets if they adopt the rewilding strategies and zones suggested by the study.

Since Europe has a dense human population, other nations — Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands — would not be able to meet their conservation goals if they only relied on the study’s recommendations, which highlights the necessity of alternative approaches to conservation.

“Conservation strategies involving ecological restoration of densely populated areas could help some countries reach conservation goals,” Araújo said. “Countries could reclaim land to turn it into conservation areas or establish networks of small, protected habitats. Traditional multi-use landscapes, like the oak parklands in the Iberian Peninsula and various extensive agricultural and forestry systems across Europe, could also help if managed sustainably.”

The researchers hope that, as organizations and governments keep investing in land conservation, their framework and findings will assist with attempts to acquire or manage land areas with the best potential for rewilding success.

“We’re racing against time,” Araújo said. “The areas that look most promising for rewilding today may not be the same in 50 years due to the impacts of climate change.”

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