A new view on nature restoration: wilder nature as a source of new knowledge about biodiversity and climate

On 20 March, on World Rewilding Day, Wageningen University, the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and ARK Rewilding Netherlands jointly organised the symposium 'Evidence-based Rewilding'. During the rewilding symposium, the Rewilding Expertise Centre in Wageningen was officially launched. The Rewilding Expertise Centre is an initiative of the Rewilding Ecology Chair, a collaboration between Wageningen University and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. The expertise centre is led by Liesbeth Bakker and Nacho Villar. 

Rewilding Expertise Centre: wilder nature as a source of new knowledge

Rewilding gives nature the space to develop itself again, without rigid goals or fixed end results. This approach ensures resilient ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate adaptation, climate mitigation and quality of life, but at the same time it makes it difficult to measure results. The Rewilding Expertise Centre plays a crucial role by connecting practical experience and science. By bundling and unlocking knowledge and developing new insights, the centre helps to better substantiate and take rewilding further.

New perspective on nature restoration

Rewilding offers an innovative view of nature restoration: not steering and recording, but giving space to natural processes. Ecosystems are allowed to develop spontaneously, with dynamism and resilience at the core. Worldwide, this approach is gaining traction and there are more and more areas where different forms of rewilding are applied. There is a clear need for a better connection between what happens outside and what we can learn from it. Substantiation is important here: both with practical experience and with measurements of the outcomes for, among other things, biodiversity, climate adaptation and mitigation and environmental quality for people.

Bridging the gap between practice and science

This is precisely where the Rewilding Expertise Centre plays a key role. The centre forms the heart of knowledge development around rewilding, bundles existing insights, makes knowledge accessible and stimulates new forms of research. Experience from the field is linked to analysis and research, which provides a better understanding of what works and why. The centre operates on a national and international level and aims to connect rewilding initiatives in order to learn from each other.

"The Rewilding Expertise Centre can show what natural processes mean and why space for nature is essential – not only for species, but also for a climate-proof and liveable landscape."

^{Esther Blom, director ARK Rewilding Netherlands}

The centre was launched during the symposium 'Evidence-based Rewilding', where science and practice came together to explore this question from national and international perspectives. William Sutherland emphasised the importance of systematic evidence collection and sharing, while Nathalie Pettorelli showed how remote sensing makes changes in landscapes transparent. Leo Linnartz reflected on 35 years of experience with rewilding in the Netherlands. Theresa Stratmann and Kent Olsen highlighted the role of rewilding as a 'living laboratory' in European projects. Lydwin Wagenaar and Martin Mikoláš demonstrated the effects of wilderness on forests, while Magnus Sylvén and Chloe Eckert emphasized the value of wetlands. Together, they gave a rich picture of a field in which knowledge is created by doing, measuring and sharing. If you are interested in delving into these topics or watching the symposium again, you can watch all the lectures on the YouTube channel of ARK Rewilding Netherlands.

ARK Rewilding Netherlands in action

Rewilding is a process of 'learning by doing'. In many areas, action was taken first and only then analysed for the effects. This approach provides valuable insights, but that knowledge is often fragmented and not always properly recorded. The Rewilding Expertise Centre helps to bundle these experiences, interpret them and translate them into applicable knowledge. ARK Rewilding Netherlands (formerly ARK Nature), with more than 35 years of practical experience and as a close partner of the centre, acts as a living lab. Their areas and projects offer a variety of long-term project locations, while helping to formulate relevant research questions and make the benefits of rewilding visible. In this way, management choices can be better substantiated and available time and capacity can be used more effectively. In this way, the centre contributes to a solid foundation for rewilding, without losing sight of the core of the approach – space for natural processes.

Foundation for the future

For a new generation - and for everyone who is new to rewilding - the centre plays an important role. The Rewilding Expertise Centre offers people access to knowledge, practical experience and a network in which learning and experimentation are central. A place where fascination for nature grows into involvement and new insights.

Ultimately, rewilding is about creating space for wild(er) nature. It requires trust in natural processes and good substantiation. The Rewilding Expertise Centre shows that the two can go together, by continuing to learn, connect and deepen. In this way, rewilding will not only become a way of nature restoration, but a joint learning of the outcomes and the space that nature needs, in order to further develop rewilding for the benefit of people and nature.

More information

• Watch the lectures of the symposium on YouTube on the following topics:
• Climate-smart rewilding, by Liesbeth Bakker (NIOO-KNAW and Wageningen University & Research (WUR))
• Rewilding Kempen-Broek, by Ruben Smit (film maker)
• Rewilding landscapes, by Nathalie Pettorelli (ZSL conservation)
• Conservation evidence, by William Sutherland (University of Cambridge)
• Evidence of 35 years rewilding in the Netherlands, by Leo Linnartz (ARK Rewilding Netherlands)
• Launch Rewilding Expertise Centre, by Liesbeth Bakker (NIOO-KNAW and WUR)
• Synthesis of 40 years of Dutch rewilding with large grazers, by Natanja Schuttenhelm (WUR)
• Rewilding as a nature-based solution: wetlands for climate change adaptation, by Anne Wolma (WUR)
• Launch of the book on natural processes, by Leo Linnartz (ARK Rewilding Netherlands)
• Short movie: The circle of life in the Rhodope Mountains, by Emmanuel Rondeau (Rewilding Europe)
• How Rewilding Europe monitors rewilding progress, by Theresa Stratmann (Rewilding Europe)
• Science-based rewilding Mols, by Kent Olsen, Natural History Museum Aarhus
• Rewilding forests: examples across Europe, by Lydwin Wagenaar, Lund University
• Global wetlands as nature-based solutions, by Magnus Sylvén and Chloe Eckert, Global Rewilding Alliance

Text: ARK Rewilding Netherlands, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and Wageningen University & Research
Images: Staffan Widstrand; Patrick Jansen; Anne-Marie Pronk; Leo Linnartz