Rewilder Weekly #23

Welcome to the latest edition of the Rewilder Weekly! Before we get started, here's a dream job waiting for you: How would you like to work for Rewilding Britain as Rewilding Landscapes Manager across Britain? What an amazing role! If you think you have what it takes go here for the details and apply by Friday 4 October. I wish you good fortune on your quest to nab this important role. Now then, let's get on with it - let's rewild!

?? As a reminder: If you come across stories you'd like to see featured in an upcoming edition of the Rewilder Weekly, send them to me and I'll gladly do what I can.

1) Get your hands dirty with nature restoration courses

A wonderful post by Ash Brown , educator at Ecosystem Restoration Communities . What better way to learn about nature and help restore it than by bringing people together for that very purpose? ERC already has more than +70 restoration communities in +30 countries across six continents. ERC's vision is a restored earth, with wildlife and local livelihoods returned, a regreened planet and climate change reversed. Sounds too daunting to tackle? Well then read Ash's post and find out what you can do!

She writes, "If you are interested in restoring land in Spain, one of our latest offerings is a training specifically for you. Starting in November, both online and in person, Camp Altiplano and the Regeneration Academy are offering you the chance to learn how to find and secure land in Spain, how to restore it, and how to finance it, introducing you to a community of people across the country to create a network of new ecosystem restoration projects." Sounds pretty awesome to me!

?? Go here for post and article

2) Rewilding the Great Plains' prairie potholes

I had never heard of the term prairie potholes before - have you? Turns out that there's a massive region across the northern Great Plains in Canada and the U.S. called the Prairie Pothole region. Essentially they are shallow wetlands created by glacial activity over 10'000 years ago. If not for human activity, they'd all still be here.

But when agriculture was mechanized and fields grew larger and larger, such 'potholes' were often considered a hindrance and were thus drained - over time more than half of these wetlands had disappeared. Now more and more of these wetlands are restored. They're not just important for flora and fauna, but also as nature-based solutions, as flood reservoirs and as water sponges there help distribute moisture beyond the potholes.

?? Go here for post and article

3) Follow the Global Rewilding Alliance

The Global Rewilding Alliance brings together over one hundred and sixty organizations under a shared vision of a world, "where restored wild lands and seas provide a secure future for people, nature and the planet."

If you're not already following them, do so! Their vision is - if you're reading this newsletter - likely yours, too. We can restore nature - and rewilding (both passive and active) are the single best ways forward to achieving that IN our lifetime! The Global Rewilding Alliance and all of its partners see a future where there's enough room for all of us, where coexistence is the norm, where flora and fauna flourishes for everyone's benefit. Our species' future depends on our utmost focus on nature restoration. Get involved, learn from the many stories, get engaged - do something. Our collective effort really can bring about a global shift.

?? Go here for GRA's post and video

4) Rewilding and the John Muir Trust

I've come across a position paper by The John Muir Trust in which they explain what they think about rewilding, and that they prefer 'using words such as repair, restore and protect' because 'there are sensitivities around the use of rewilding'. That made me pause and take a closer look - and share my thoughts on the matter.

I'm thrilled by the many organizations and people in Scotland who proudly put rewilding on their flag and make the case for it, day after day after day after day. And I can see that the John Muir Trust is very much engaged in restoring nature by adopting rewilding principles. They just prefer not using the term - well, I wish they'd change course here. I wish they would use the term, strongly, proudly and all the time.

?? Go here for the article

5) ￡100'000 rewilding award in store for projects in Britain

Rewilding Britain asks: "What could your rewilding project do with ￡100'000?" One hundred thousand - that's a good number! If you have, or know about, a large-scale rewilding project in Britain - definitely throw the name in the hat. Rewilding Britain explains that application for the Rewilding Challenge Fund is open to land owners, land managers, communities and partnerships.

Learn all about the Rewilding Challenge Fund here. When you follow the link you'll also meet last year's winners, namely Sussex Bay? and Kent Wildlife Trust with its excellent Wilder Blean European bison venture. APPLY BY 11 OCTOBER LATEST!

?? Go here for Rewilding Britain's announcement post

6) Colombia's latest national park - a key ecological bridge

The The Nature Conservancy reports on Colombia's new Serranía de Manacacías National Park, created with assistance from TNC. It is home - or stop-over home - for more than 400 species birds and protects 168,000 acres of wetland savannas that connect the Andes Mountains with the Orinoco and Amazon rivers.

The region was - as ever so often - caught in the crosshairs of politics and economy. While scientists had long known about the ecological importance of the region, others saw it as a great place for oil-palm cultivation, plantation forestry and oil and gas exploration. It took a decade for the government to decide, but last November the lands were declared part of Colombia's national parks system. Great story - also very much about supporting local communities.

?? Go here for TNC's post, article and pictures

7) Abrachian Forest Trust's amazing success story

It all began with a grandmother paying close attention - now the Abrachian Forest Trust is twenty-five years old and the erstwhile conifer plantation is home to birch, oak, aspen and Scots pine, a haven for black grouse, crossbills, red squirrels and pine martens. 125'000 trees planted and 75% more wildlife - and the trust is an economic success, too.

What I particularly loved was the wonderful focus on learning, on bringing young people into nature, showing them nature's wonders, letting them plant saplings, teaching them and watching them grow just, as those saplings do, into nature-caring adults that - as the article shares, often take employment in nature-related fields. Truly fantastic.

?? Go here for post, article and pictures

8) Restoring California's Ojai Valley

There's a strong link between this story and the aforementioned one in Scotland - the link is learning. The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy began it's 'Rewild Ojai' initiative in 2023, with a particular focus on native plants. But OVLC doesn't just restore and protect its lands, it offers events and trainings and starter kits and native plant salves to help others on their neighboring lands also increase native plant - and thus create important native plant corridors. Elizabeth Brewer Chouinard wrote the article, and she's also one of the land owner - she shares examples that beautifully illustrate the difference it all makes.

Tania Parker, Deputy Director of OVLC says, "People rewilding their homes help give this habitat connectivity through the valley for all of our pollinators and insects and wildlife to have homes, so that they’re able to thrive throughout our valley, not just in the surrounding hills."

?? Go here for post and article

We end the newsletter as always with an artwork by Chilean science illustrator and painter Mauricio Alvarez (mauricio_alvarez_art on Instagram): This time you're looking at his color-pencils rendering of a white-throated hawk (buteo albigula). Ah, just makes me want to soar (I once even wrote a novel about a man who wants to fly like a bird - definitely close to home! ??)

And that's it for this edition! For more rewilding insights and stories from around the globe, use the #rewilding hashtag and follow people, organizations and groups that are as passionate about rewilding as you are.

Have a good week!

Cheers,

D