During the first 36 months of the project, a primary focus has been on learning, data collection and interpretation in four major fields:
(1) Development of concepts and literature syntheses related with rewilding. We published a formal framework for ‘climate-smart rewilding’ – a core component of this project - as well as several literature reviews and meta-analyses addressing different environmental, socio-economic and political aspects associated with rewilding and alternative land management options. Severl further articles are under way.
(2) Empirical analyses of recent European-scale rewilding trends and their implications. Activities included detailed remote sensing studies of land abandonment since 1989 and its ecosystem-level consequences, as well as an EU-wide representative survey on social perceptions and attitudes towards nature and wilderness including >13,000 respondents. The data collection was successfully finished and several major research articles are awaitung publication.
(3) In-depth analyses of the environmental, social and economic implications of rewilding in the project’s eight case studies. Activities included diverse fine-scale ecological studies as well as the organisation of local stakeholder workshops, focus group discussions and interviews, which informed ongoing detailed studies of the social perception, material and nonmaterial benefits, and opportunity costs of rewilding compared to alternative land uses. Data collection is mostly finished and the primary focus lies now on their interpretation.
(4) Model-based estimates of the potential of rewilding to address EU biodiversity and climate goals. Activities included the development of relevant land use change and climate scenarios and their integration into land use, ecosystem, and economic (opportunity cost) models involving extensive model adjustment, parametrisation, and testing. First major papers addressing climate-smart rewilding were published.
The described activities were greatly facilitated by >25 meetings and workshops held through the first three years of the project. Much of the described work was led by the >20 contracted early-stage (PhD or postdoctoral) researchers. Overall, the research work advanced very smoothly and most often fully in line with the original plans and schedules.
