Reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 is central to the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. While renewable energy and energy efficiency are vital, they must be complemented by carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. Nature-based solutions — especially those leveraging Europe’s shifting land-use patterns — offer promising, low-cost climate mitigation and biodiversity co-benefits. The WILDCARD project explores two underutilized strategies: natural rewilding of abandoned agricultural land and proforestation (allowing forests to reach ecological maturity without intervention). These are increasingly relevant as land abandonment rises and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 pushes for more strictly protected areas.
WILDCARD delivers the first comprehensive, multi-scale assessment of how these strategies contribute to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience. It integrates field data, remote sensing, dynamic vegetation modelling, and soil and microbial DNA analysis to track how rewilding transforms carbon stocks above and below ground. It also evaluates how impacts vary across regions, time, and scenarios. Beyond biophysical dimensions, WILDCARD addresses political, economic, and social dynamics — exploring public perceptions, governance, trade-offs with low-intensity farming, and socio-political barriers. Stakeholder engagement runs throughout, from site-level interactions to a Europe-wide Rewilding Forum. The project applies discourse analysis, institutional mapping, and surveys to understand how citizens and decision-makers perceive rewilding, what resistance may arise, and which policies or innovations could enhance acceptance and implementation. WILDCARD will inform both science and policy by identifying where rewilding delivers high benefits with minimal trade-offs. Policy recommendations will support EU climate and biodiversity frameworks, and results will inform IPCC, the European Environment Agency, and upcoming EU policy cycles.
In its scale and ambition, WILDCARD aligns with Horizon Europe’s climate mission and Cluster 5’s Destination 1 goals. Its outputs — including open-access datasets, models, policy briefs, and stakeholder roadmaps — will equip Europe to tackle the climate-biodiversity nexus with interdisciplinary, evidence-based solutions.
