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Rewilding Europe
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Old story but nice nonetheless
Germany is turning 62 military bases into wildlife sanctuaries They were once military bases at the centre of a 50-year war between the world's two superpowers. They will soon become a haven for rare birds and other animals. The German government has announced plans to convert 62 disused military bases just west of the Iron Curtain into nature reserves for eagles, woodpeckers, bats, and beetles. Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said: "We are seizing a historic opportunity with this conversion — many areas that were once no-go zones are no longer needed for military purposes. “We are fortunate that we can now give these places back to nature."  *This image is copyright of its original author For years military land in Germany has been opened up to wild animals (Klaus Matwijow, 1984) Together the bases are 31,000 hectares — that's equivalent to 40,000 football pitches. The conversion will see Germany's total area of protected wildlife increase by a quarter. After toying with the idea of selling the land off as real estate, the government opted instead to make a grand environmental gesture. It will become another addition to what is now known as the European Green Belt.  *This image is copyright of its original author The European Green Belt in near Lower Saxony, Germany (Klaus Leidorf) A spokesperson from The European Green Belt told The Independent: "In the remoteness of the inhuman border fortifications of the Iron Curtain nature was able to develop nearly undisturbed. "Today the European Green Belt is an ecological network and memorial landscape running from the Barents to the Black Sea."
Cumbria's Eden Valley to see reintroduction of beavers
Beavers are to be reintroduced to Cumbria's Eden Valley to see if they can thrive in upland environments. The animals, which were hunted to extinction in the UK in the 16th Century, will be introduced to the Lake District for the first time in a trial. Efforts to return the species to other parts of the UK, including Yorkshire and Somerset , are also under way. The government-approved trial will look at how beavers restore small farmland streams and can aid flood prevention. The Penrith-based Lowther Estate is part of the Cumbria Beaver Group, which also includes Cumbria Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and Eden Rivers Trust, which is working towards the managed return of beavers to the area. A family of beavers, with an adult male and female and up to four kits, will be taken from the Tay catchment in Scotland where beavers have been living wild since escaping or being illegally released some years ago. The plan is to release them in March into a 27-acre fenced enclosure of woodland, grassland and wetland which the scheme's backers hope the animals will help transform into an even richer habitat. 'All strongly positive' It is part of changes to a more sustainable farming system on the estate, which also includes a switch from sheep to livestock including native longhorn cattle, which spend the winter outside and can be used for conservation grazing. It is hoped the beavers will deliver benefits such as carbon storage, flood mitigation and an increase in other wildlife. Conservationists support the return of beavers to Britain's rivers for the benefits they can provide in preventing flooding, by damming streams and slowing the flow of water, as well as boosting water quality. David Harpley, chairman of Cumbria Beaver Group and conservation manager at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said the trial would help provide evidence of the impact beavers could have in the upland landscape. "Not only do you have flood alleviation benefits, you have improved water quality, increased invertebrate production, increased numbers of frogs and other amphibians. It all seems strongly positive," he said. The group is also looking into the feasibility of setting up a camera to live-stream beaver activity once they have been released, so people can watch the animals from their laptop or phone.
Living forests can mitigate our climate and biodiversity crises
Results from the ongoing GrazeLIFE project demonstrate that natural forests, complete with naturally occurring populations of free-roaming herbivores, can boost biodiversity and reduce the scale and impact of climate change. The EU should take account of this in all relevant strategy and policy going forwards.  *This image is copyright of its original author Forests and grasslands functioning as one coherent ecosystem in Romania’s Southern Carpathians.STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EUROPE Recommendations for change The European Green Deal advocates more European forests. To help mitigate both our biodiversity and climate crises, these forests need to be far more than simple tree plantations. Preliminary results from the ongoing GrazeLIFE project show that “living forests” – natural forests, complete with naturally occurring populations of free-roaming herbivores such as deer, bison and wild-living horses – could significantly mitigate our climate and biodiversity crises. A newly published handout, distributed today at the International Conference on Forests for Biodiversity and Climate in Brussels, summarises these results and their implications. It also provides recommendations to the European Commission as to how such forests could be better supported in relevant EU policy and legislation. The benefits of herbiforests  *This image is copyright of its original author Natural forests, with populations of free-roaming herbivores, can boost biodiversity and reduce the scale and impact of climate change.STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EUROPE Natural forests are complex mosaics of indigenous tree stands, woodlands, open areas and transitions to bushy and herbaceous vegetation. Together with their populations of large wild herbivores, such living forests – or “herbiforests”, as the project team have labelled them – provide a diverse and cost-effective range of benefits. Natural forest mosaics, with all their associated plants and animals, function as living ecosystems. Large herbivores are key architects of these ecosystems, contributing to biodiversity, facilitating spontaneous regeneration and carbon storage, and serving as natural fire brigades. Whereas grasslands are sometimes more effective at long-term carbon sequestration than forests, natural forest mosaics (particularly old-growth forests) have large carbon storage capacities. A mosaic of forests and grassy vegetation, which is associated with extensive grazing by wild herbivores, also creates habitat heterogeneity and thereby boosts biodiversity.  *This image is copyright of its original author A grazing “fire brigade” working at landscape scale in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains.STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EUROPE Large herbivores can also represent a cost-effective, nature-based solution for wildfires, replacing or complementing active management by humans. Dense forest plantations and contiguous shrubby landscapes (often the result of rural depopulation) are more vulnerable to large-scale or impactful fires than grazed habitats and mosaic landscapes. Large herbivores can remove understory vegetation, preventing the build-up of fuel for catastrophic fires and creating natural firebreaks. A unique opportunity Rural depopulation is now taking place across large swathes of rural Europe, with an associated decline in the number of domesticated herbivores grazing the land. This trend offers a unique opportunity to recover complex forest ecosystems with herds of wild herbivores at a scale of many millions of hectares. “The time is right to rethink the idea of merely planting trees and instead support the landscape-scale development of herbiforests,” says GrazeLIFE Project Manager Wouter Helmer. “Revised EU policy is critical in this regard, which is why the GrazeLIFE project partners are providing these recommendations.” Rewilding Europe is already supporting the development of more natural forests – complete with large wild herbivore populations – in Portugal. Rewilding Europe Capital, Rewilding Europe’s enterprise loan facility, provided a loan to a Portuguese forestry company focused on natural forest development at the start of 2019, with the aim of scaling up this business model in the years ahead. Wide-ranging relevance  *This image is copyright of its original author Publication: How living forests can mitigate our climate and biodiversity crises.To fully seize the opportunity and maximise the benefits of living forests, support for their development and management needs to be provided at scale. While the GrazeLIFE project focuses on large herbivore-based land management, some preliminary project outcomes are highly relevant to the forestry sector, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), EU Biodiversity Strategy and European Green Deal. Based on project results, the new handout provides recommendations as to how such policies and strategies should be modified going forwards. The European Union’s CAP, for example, already contains instruments that can support extensive and sustainable grazing, as well as the better management of forests. But these will require sharpening and expansion if they are to operate more effectively and efficiently. Progressive project Coordinated by Rewilding Europe, the three-year, European Commission-funded GrazeLIFE project began at the start of 2019. Its aim is to evaluate the benefits of various land management models involving domesticated and wild/semi-wild herbivores, and to provide recommendations to the Commission that will enable the development of more supportive EU policy and legislation. Additional funding has also been provided by the Arcadia Fund, the UK based charitable trust of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Project work is being carried out in eight regions (encompassing eleven European countries: Spain, Portugal, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Ukraine, Romania, Germany, Poland and Bulgaria). Project beneficiaries are Rewilding Europe, University of Leipzig, Baltic Environmental Forum, ARK Nature, University of A Coruna, Rewilding Ukraine and Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation.
A herd of #EuropeanBison was spotted last week on a NATO military training site in western Poland ?? by partners from our transboundary #EUInterreg project. Video taken by Ola Smaga/ ZTP.
https://twitter.com/hannesjkoenig/status...43201?s=19
Latest Rhodope Mountains fallow deer release enhances local circle of life
As part of the long-term restoration of deer populations in the Rhodope Mountains, the latest reintroduction will further support the area’s endangered vulture species – as well as other scavengers and carnivores – by revitalising food chains and creating a healthier, more naturally balanced ecosystem.  *This image is copyright of its original author Two recent releases of fallow deer in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area will further support the closing of the so-called “circle of life”. *This image is copyright of its original author Closing the circleOne of the core objectives of rewilding is to reinstate natural processes, such as the free movement of rivers, natural grazing and predation. In this regard, the reintroduction of missing species is often required in order to restore the full range of these processes and create healthier, more resilient, fully functioning ecosystems. Such a transformation is not only better for wild nature, but means these ecosystems are more capable of delivering nature-based services to people, such as clean water, flood protection, and climate change mitigation through carbon drawdown. Two recent releases of fallow deer in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area in Bulgaria typify this restoration dynamic, with 12 animals reintroduced to the Byala River Natura 2000 area by the local rewilding team in January, and a further 14 earlier this month. As part of the ongoing European Commission-funded LIFE Vultures project, these reintroductions will further support the area’s endangered vulture species (as well as other scavengers, and carnivores such as wolves) by boosting the availability of wild prey and carcasses, and thereby helping to close the so-called “circle of life“.  *This image is copyright of its original author The increasing griffon vulture population in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area is now sustained significantly by the carcasses of wolf kills. Restoring food chains in this area is a flagship project of Rewilding Europe, supported by the European Commission (through the LIFE Vultures project).JEROEN HELMER / ARK NATURE Part of the process The February fallow deer release was the final one of this winter season, with restocking activities expected to resume in the autumn. The latest reintroductions mean that over the last five years more than 400 fallow deer and 50 red deer have been released by the local rewilding team in the Rhodope Mountains, in cooperation with the local hunting associations of Kardzhali, Harmanli and Krumovgrad. “These efforts have already proven successful in terms of enhancing local food chains,” says Rewilding Rhodopes rewilding officer Stefan Avramov. “The griffon vultures which breed in the area regularly feed on the carcasses of deer following their predation by wolves.” Viable and growing populations  *This image is copyright of its original author Griffon vultures in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area regularly feed on red and fallow deer killed by wolves.STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EUROPE Red and fallow deer populations both need to contain at least 50 adult animals to be viable. Restocking efforts have now established three viable and growing populations of fallow deer, and one rapidly growing red deer population (the last red deer release was in 2018). This autumn the rewilding team will conclude restocking efforts with the release of another twenty fallow deer, from which point the populations of both red and fallow deer will be allowed to grow naturally. “These latest releases align with the rewilding vision for the Rhodope Mountains, which would see this hugely biodiverse area regulated by natural processes, with wildlife species – including vultures – thriving in more natural densities,” explains Avramov. “As part of this vision, local people will increasingly benefit through enhanced nature-based economic opportunities and nature-based services.” Keeping track To support restoration efforts in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area, two newly released female fallow deer have been fitted with GPS collars. Satellite tracking will help the local rewilding team learn more about the distribution and movements of the deer, and the threats that they face (such as poaching), thereby boosting measures to protect the species. The data that is gathered will also reveal the animals’ favourite resting and feeding sites in the core rewilding area. Starting this month and continuing into March, the Rewilding Rhodopes team will monitor and count red deer and fallow deer populations across the entire rewilding area. “With populations of deer increasing every year, through both restocking and natural growth, we hope to see more evidence of vultures scavenging on deer carcasses,” says Avramov. Local support The fallow deer was once widespread in Bulgaria, but was probably hunted to extinction in the country in the early Middle Ages, with population restoration beginning in the middle of the twentieth century. The eastern RhodopeMountains themselves could maintain thousands of fallow and red deer if populations were allowed to grow naturally. The Byala River Natura 2000 area was selected as a site for fallow deer population restoration due to its suitable habitat, the permanent presence of black vultures (for roosting and feeding), and the willingness of local hunting groups to assist with the recovery of the species. Cross-border project All fallow and red deer releases in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area are carried out under the framework of the European Commission-funded LIFE Vultures project, with additional support provided by Fondation Segré. Starting in 2016, this five-year project was developed by Rewilding Europe, in collaboration with the Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), and a range of other partners. Focusing on the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area, as well as a section of the Rhodope Mountains in northern Greece, the aim of the project is to support the recovery and further expansion of local black and griffon vulture populations, mainly by improving the availability of natural prey (such as fallow and red deer), and by reducing mortality through factors such as poaching, poisoning and collisions with power lines. “As part of the LIFE Vultures project, the Rewilding Rhodopes team has already taken huge steps towards rebuilding а stable deer fallow deer population in the Bulgarian Rhodopes,” says Stefan Avramov. “We are now looking forward to future successful collaboration with our Greek colleagues, as we work to restore the species throughout the cross-border area.”
By showing the ecological integrity of European landscapes, new maps bring the need to scale up nature restoration into sharp relief. Landscape-scale nature restoration can deliver critical new connectivity between Natura2000 sites.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
UK’s first 'super' national nature reserve created in Dorset
It is a rich, complex landscape, a mosaic of heaths, woods, mires, reed beds, salt marsh and dunes that are home to a myriad of flora and fauna from rare birds, butterflies and bats to carnivorous plants. Seven landowners have now joined forces to created what is being billed as the UK’s first “super national nature reserve” (NNR) on Purbeck Heaths in Dorset. The idea is that by combining the disparate chunks of land, a more dynamic landscape easier to manage in a more natural way – and much simpler for wildlife to navigate through – will be created. A stonechat, a bird the size of a robin with a call like two pebbles being hit together, provided the backing track as experts from the National Trust, RSPB and Natural England pointed out the features of the new super reserve from a vantage point high above the heathland on Tuesday. “It really is a very special place,” said David Brown, a National Trust ecologist. He pointed out an area of bright gorse that is one of the few homes in this part of the world for the small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly. “At the last count there were only 15 of them there. And they only stay in that one very small area.”  *This image is copyright of its original author Dartford Warblers are expected to do well in the reserve. Photograph: Nigel Pye/Alamy Stock Photo A major aim of the super reserve project is to help such creatures spread further so they do not rely on just one tiny area – and so face being wiped out if disaster strikes their home patch. Ways in which this will be done include grazing the heathland with cattle and pigs and letting more human visitors tramp across. The concept is not about preserving the landscape as it is but to create the conditions in which it will change dynamically. It is as the changes are happening that some of the most interesting and rare species can flourish. Some of the developments that will be made at Purbeck will be obvious such as removing non-native Scots pine. But other improvements will be much more subtle including simply encouraging bare patches that plants liked by the nationally scarce yellow centaury. Brown is keen on the carnivorous plants that can do well here including the sundews. “You can sometimes see dragon fly wings floating on the surface of the boggy pools.The sundews digest their bodies and spit out the hard bits like the wings.” Birds that do better here than in most places include the Dartford warbler, which dines on spiders that live in the gorse and the woodlark, another lover of tree-cleared ground. The new Purbeck Heaths NNR knits together 11 types of priority habitat to enable wildlife to move more easily across the landscape. This will give wildlife, including the sand lizard and the Dartford warbler a better chance of adapting and thriving in light of the current climate crisis. It combines three existing NNRs at Stoborough Heath, Hartland Moor, and Studland and Godlingston Heath. They will be linked with other nature reserves, conservation areas and a golf course, which manages its rough to encourage wildlife and plant life. The whole area will cover more than 8,000 acres and together they will create the largest lowland heathland NNR in the UK. Partners also include the Forestry England, the private Rempstone Estate, Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. The chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper said: “By creating bigger, better, and more joined-up wild places like this one, we will achieve big benefits for both people and wildlife. “In facing the twin and deepening challenges of global heating and wildlife loss, we need to think and act on a larger scale. Today’s move marks a shift in gear and a new era for nature recovery in England.” Purbeck Heaths is one of the most biodiverse places in the UK – home to thousands of species of wildlife, including 450 that are listed as rare, threatened or protected. All six native reptiles are to be found here, including endangered smooth snakes and sand lizards. As well as the smaller birds such as the stonechat, raptors including hen harriers, marsh harriers, merlins, hobbies and ospreys hunt the heathland.  *This image is copyright of its original author FacebookTwitterPinterest A Sand Lizard one of six native reptiles to be encountered on the heath. Photograph: Green Man Photography/Alamy Stock Photo At least 12 species of bats on the heaths. It is also one of the last strongholds for many specialist insects and other invertebrates, such as southern damselflies and the Purbeck mason wasp. Mark Harold, the National Trust’s director of land & nature, said: “All the rare and beautiful wildlife living in and beyond the reserve will benefit hugely from a landscape where habitats are bigger, in better condition and better connected – and where natural processes are restored. Here they will be able to spread and build more resilient populations.” Environment minister Rebecca Pow said it was a landmark project. “Purbeck Heaths is a trailblazing example of how landscape-scale conservation can help wildlife thrive, improve people’s well-being, and build resilience to climate change,” she said.
Return of the burbot: ‘great lost fish’ to be reintroduced to UK
Freshwater predatory cod species to make comeback after 50-year absence Forget dreams of wolves, bears or lynx – the next animal to be restored to the British countryside could be a river bottom-dwelling fish that resembles a giant tadpole. The burbot, much-maligned for its unprepossessing appearance with a fleshy appendage dangling from its chin, was last sighted in British rivers in 1969. A reward for spotting it remains unclaimed and now a costed reintroduction plan is being drawn up for Natural England, the government’s conservation watchdog. “The chance to bring back burbot to our rivers is hugely exciting,” said Jonah Tosney, operations director of the Norfolk Rivers Trust, which is masterminding the reintroduction plan. “Unlike beavers, lynx and sea eagles, they haven’t been gone for long; only about 50 years. Anglers still remember catching them. We’re hopeful that recent work to improve water quality and to restore habitat has brought our rivers back to a good enough state to support England’s great lost fish.” The burbot, also known as the eelpout and the lingcod, disappeared at the same time as the otter vanished from waterways. In both cases, agricultural and heavy metal pollution may have played a role. Tosney said the cause of the burbot’s disappearance remained “a bit of a mystery” but was a combination of pressures including the disappearance of natural “messy” edges to rivers, including pools, flooded areas and back channels. “People did used to eat them but it’s more likely to be water quality and habitat quality slowly degrading since the second world war that caused their disappearance,” he said. The burbot, the only freshwater species of cod, once thrived at the bottom of cool lowland rivers across eastern England but leaves its preferred habitat for ponds and pools to spawn and so requires pools and other freshwater close to the river. Burbot could also be a beneficiary of beaver reintroductions, as the beavers create burbot-friendly habitat. The fish has been successfully reintroduced into Belgium and Germany, and Tosney said there were several river valleys in the East Anglian Fens with good floodplains that could be ideal habitat.  *This image is copyright of its original author The burbot is a predator with a taste for trout. Photograph: Arco Images GmbH/Alamy Stock PhotoBefore the fish is brought back there will be further feasibility studies and also an environmental DNA survey to check there are no traces of burbot DNA in rivers, which would prove that a few survivors have evaded detection since the 1960s. The Norfolk Rivers Trust hopes to raise £80,000 to fund a five-year reintroduction pilot. Because of the high mortality rate for young fish, hundreds of thousands of young burbot will be first reared in captivity from eggs brought from European hatcheries. Dave Ottewell, a fish specialist for Natural England, said: “Over recent years great efforts have been made to restore our freshwater environment, rectifying some of the historic damage inflicted on these valuable and complex systems. “This work has focused on rebuilding the natural processes that underpin high quality freshwater habitats. It is the successful restoration of these habitats that has led us to a position where we can now realistically look towards the reintroduction of this recently lost species back into its native range.” The reintroduction may worry trout fishermen in particular because the omnivorous burbot will eat trout. “They eat pretty much everything – invertebrates, other fish, and trout, no doubt about it, but trout will also eat burbot,” said Tosney. “Anglers do not like predators but I can’t see any other reason to object – it’s a native species, it should be here.” 
Rats are taking over in the UK, and wolves, wild boar and roe deer, among others, are taking over in Italy, amid the lockdown: https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-animal-...#pid114628
Release from sheep‐grazing appears to put some heart back into upland vegetation: a comparison of nutritional properties of plant species in long‐term grazing experiments
Abstract (Re)‐wilding is a popularised means for enhancing the conservation value of marginal land. In the British uplands, it will involve a reduction, or complete removal, of livestock grazing (sheep), based on the belief that grazing has reduced plant species diversity, the ‘Wet Desert’ hypothesis. The hope is that if livestock is removed, diversity will recover. If true, we hypothesise that the species extirpated/reduced by grazing and then recover on its removal would more nutritious compared to those that persisted. We test this hypothesis at Moor House National Nature Reserve (North‐Pennines), where seven sets of paired plots were established between 1953 and 1967 to compare ungrazed/sheep‐grazed vegetation. Within these plot‐pairs, we compared leaf properties of seven focal species that occurred only, or were present in much greater abundance, in the absence of grazing to those of 10 common species that were common in both grazed and ungrazed vegetation. Each sample was analysed for macro‐nutrients, micro‐nutrients, digestibility, palatability and decomposability. We ranked the species with respect to twenty‐two variables based on effect size derived from Generalised Linear Modelling (GLM) and compared species using a Principal Components Analysis. We also assessed changes in abundance of the focal species through time using GLMs. Our results support the ‘Wet Desert’ hypothesis, i.e. that long‐term sheep grazing has selectively removed/reduced species like our focal ones and on recovery they were more nutritious (macro‐nutrients, some micro‐nutrients) palatable, digestible and decomposable than common species. Measured changes in abundance of the focal species suggest that their recovery will take 10–20 years in blanket bog and 60 years in high‐altitude grasslands. Collectively, these results suggest that sheep grazing has brought about biotic homogenization, and its removal in (re)wilding schemes will reverse this process eventually! The ‘white woolly maggots’ have eaten at least part of the heart out of the Highlands/uplands, and it will take some time for recovery.
New livestock guard dog programme to enhance human-wolf coexistence in northern Portugal
Complemented by other coexistence measures, the programme will reduce livestock predation by Iberian wolves, enabling the recovery of this endangered carnivore.  *This image is copyright of its original author Livestock herders accompanied by guard dogs are far less likely to experience herd predation by Iberian wolves.STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EUROPE Puppy power  *This image is copyright of its original author Surrounded by a pen full of inquisitive sheep, Leão appears slightly ill at ease. Yet big things are expected of this timid three-month-old Serra da Estrela puppy, with a name that means “lion” in Portuguese. Once fully grown (and lion-hearted) at 18 months, he should prove an invaluable companion to his new owner, helping the shepherd to protect his flock from wolf predation in northeast Portugal’s Serra de Montemuro region.As the trailblazer in a new guard dog programme, Leão is the first Serra da Estrela puppy to be embedded with livestock by the Rewilding Portugal team. The programme has been developed as part of the LIFE WolFlux project, which aims to boost the connectivity of the endangered Portuguese Iberian wolf sub-population south of the Douro River. “The target is to eventually embed 100 dogs with livestock flocks and herds in the project area,” explains Rewilding Portugal Conservation Officer Sara Aliácar. “By reducing predation by wolves, and thereby promoting human-wolf coexistence, Leão and the dogs that follow him will contribute to wolf recovery by increasing the stability, interaction and territorial expansion of established packs.” Reinvigorating a tradition  *This image is copyright of its original author Guard dog puppies like Leão have to be integrated into the flocks at a young age, in order to create a strong bond with the sheep.REWILDING PORTUGAL One of the oldest canine breeds on the Iberian Peninsula, Serra da Estrela dogs have been guarding livestock (sheep, cattle and goats) south of the Douro against attacks by Iberian wolves (a subspecies of the grey wolf) and stray dogs for centuries. Just as Leão is now, they have to be integrated into flocks and herds when they are still puppies in order to create a strong bond with the animals they are supposed to protect. “A shepherd with Serra da Estrela dogs can guard against wolf predation far more effectively than one without,” explains Sara Aliácar. “Dogs invariably detect the presence of wolves first. In the shrubby, rocky habitat that characterises the area, they simply lie down, conceal themselves, and keep watch.” While some shepherds south of the Douro still use dogs, the tradition has died out in many areas – especially those where wolves are seldom seen. But with the Rewilding Portugal team working to support wolf comeback, embedding guard dogs with livestock in areas where wolves may return is seen as a proactive measure. Comprehensive support The new livestock guarding programme will roll out according to demand – shepherds first have to make a request for dogs for the embedding process to begin. The Rewilding Portugal team then visit the shepherd to assess whether a dog is actually needed. If the evaluation is positive, then a puppy is provided free of charge, while the programme also supplies insurance, food and veterinary services until the animal is 18 months old. “This is the age when a Serra da Estrela becomes an effective guard dog,” explains Sara Aliácar. “So we are effectively paying for everything until that point.” The dogs themselves are supplied by Grupo Lobo, a Portuguese NGO that works to conserve Iberian wolves and their habitat. The NGO is also providing advice for the training of the dogs, facilitating the exchange of critical knowledge and best practice. If the embedded dog ends up producing puppies then the shepherd involved is encouraged to hand two back to the programme. Complementary measures  *This image is copyright of its original author The LIFE Wolflux project is working to boost the connectivity of the Iberian wolf subpopulation south of the Douro River.ANDONI CANELA The endangered Portuguese Iberian wolf population is in a precarious position. In addition to factors such as habitat loss, low connectivity between packs and conflict with humans, a lack of prey continues to hamper the animal’s ability to recover. Wolves south of the Douro currently rely heavily on domestic ungulates for food, with livestock making up more than 90% of the diet of some packs. Reducing wolf predation on livestock by embedding guard dogs will only be fully effective if the wolves have alternative sources of food. Through The LIFE WolFlux project, which is funded by the European Commission and co-funded by the Endangered Landscapes Programme, the Rewilding Portugal team is working to increase the availability of natural prey for the wolves by boosting local populations of roe deer and thereby reinforcing natural food chains. Preliminary survey work was carried out in 2019 to better understand the distribution and abundance of roe deer populations in the Western Iberia rewilding area – this will highlight the areas where the animals need most support. The Rewilding Portugal team also plans to distribute fencing to shepherds to enable them to further protect their flocks and herds from wolf predation.
Benefits of different grazing types reviewed
An interesting read: https://rewildingeurope.com/blog/benefits-of-different-types-of-grazing-reviewed/
European bison to be introduced into Kent woodland
 *This image is copyright of its original author Image copyrightKENT WILDLIFE TRUSTImage captionThe bison will be brought in from Europe where they live in similar wild populationsBison will be introduced to UK woodland to restore an ancient habitat and its wildlife, conservationists have said. The £1m project, led by Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust, is aimed at helping to manage Blean Woods near Canterbury. A wild herd of European bison, the continent's largest land mammal, will be in their new home by spring 2022. The breed is the closest living relative to ancient steppe bison, which once roamed Britain.  *This image is copyright of its original author Image copyrightKENT WILDLIFE TRUSTImage captionThe bison will restore the natural habitat of the area, experts saidThe charities will be preparing over the next 18 months, including creating a fenced enclosure. The bison will be within a wider 500 hectare (1,200 acre) area with other grazing animals such as Konik ponies, to create varied and healthy habitat, the conservationists said.  *This image is copyright of its original author European Bison: Fact file
*This image is copyright of its original author Paul Hadaway, of Kent Wildlife Trust said: "A wilder, nature-based solution is the right one to tackling the climate and nature crisis we now face. "Using missing keystone species like bison to restore natural processes to habitats is the key to creating bio-abundance in our landscape."  *This image is copyright of its original author Image copyrightKENT WILDLIFE TRUSTImage captionDespite their size bison are peaceful creaturesPaul Whitfield, director general of Wildwood Trust added: "This will allow people to experience nature in a way they haven't before." Adult males can weigh up to a tonne but bison are peaceful, according to the experts, and no other species could perform the job of engineering the habitat in quite the same way. They fell trees by rubbing up against them, creating areas of space and light in the woods, which help plants such as cow wheat to grow. The heath fritillary - a rare butterfly - depends on this plant.  *This image is copyright of its original author Image copyrightKENT WILDLIFE TRUSTImage captionAncient steppe bison once roamed BritainPatches of bare earth created by the bison dust bathing are good for lizards and rare arable weeds, while their bark stripping creates standing deadwood for fungi and insects such as stag beetles. The project is to be funded by £1,125,000 from the People's Postcode Lottery Dream Fund.
Eagle owl reintroduction programme complements Danube Delta food chain
An ongoing eagle owl reintroduction programme has just seen three juvenile birds released in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta. As part of scaled-up rewilding efforts in the delta, the programme should boost trophic complexity and reestablish a viable local population of the species.  *This image is copyright of its original author The impressive eagle owl has an important part to play in the Danube Delta’s local food chain.STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / WILD WONDERS OF EUROPE Three go free  *This image is copyright of its original author The three eagle owls in the aviary in the Danube Biosphere Reserve, prior to their release.ANDREY NEKRASOV The Ukrainian section of the Danube Delta rewilding area has just become a little wilder, with three juvenile eagle owls just released on July 11th. This is the second release of a reintroduction programme in the delta that began in July last year. The programme will see a total of 20 birds released over the next three years, with the aim of re-establishing a viable Danube Delta eagle owl population. The reintroduction programme follows a positive feasibility study conducted using IUCN guidelines. Releases, which are overseen by the Rewilding Ukraine team and partners, are part of scaled-up rewilding efforts in the area, which began at the start of 2019 with funding provided by the Endangered Landscapes Programme (ELP). The team will keep track of the movement and behaviour of the birds through GPS transmitters. “It’s a real thrill to be setting these birds free,” says Rewilding Ukraine Executive Director Mykhailo Nesterenko. “The eagle owl was once widespread in the Danube Delta. This programme will see it retake its natural position as an important part of local food chains.” Road to recovery Supporting the restoration of more complete species guilds through wildlife comeback is a core element of Rewilding Europe’s work. Eagle owls were once found right across Ukraine, but the country’s last breeding populations are now restricted to the Polyissa region in the north and Donbass region in the east. Today it is a very infrequent visitor to the Danube Delta. This decline is mostly attributable to a deliberate eradication campaign (which ended in 1969), disturbance of female birds at early stages of incubation, and collisions with power lines. While the eagle owl is now making a natural comeback in many parts of Europe, hunting pressure in Romania, Ukraine and Moldova means the likelihood of an unaided recovery in the Danube Delta is uncertain. As the eagle owl is a resident and non-migratory species, the newly released birds are expected to stay within the safe confines of the Danube Delta area, where hunting is prohibited.  *This image is copyright of its original author One of the eagle owls being fitted with a GPS transmitter.STANISLAV TIBATIN Keeping track Fitting the two juveniles with GPS transmitters will allow the Rewilding Ukraine team to monitor the birds as they settle into their new home, providing valuable insight into dispersal and preferred habitats for foraging and roosting. Results from monitoring, together with prey composition (analysed from owl droppings), will allow further refinement of the reintroduction programme going forwards. Reintroduction process  *This image is copyright of its original author The three eagle owl chicks at Odessa Zoo.STANISLAV TIBATIN The newly released juvenile owls were hatched in Odessa Zoo around five months ago and then transferred to a large aviary in the core zone of the Ukrainian section of the Danube Biosphere Reserve, where they were housed for ten days. This allowed the owls to become acclimatised to their surroundings prior to their rewilding. Supplying all the released owls, Odessa Zoo is set to play a pivotal role in the reintroduction programme. “We have significant experience of breeding and raising eagle owls, and have already supported the reintroduction of this rare yet special bird in the delta region of the Dniester River in Ukraine,” says zoo director Igor Belyakov. Reprising role Reaching a height of 75 cm and with a wingspan of up to 180 cm, the eagle owl is one of the world’s most impressive owls, with a diet consisting mostly of rats and other small mammals, as well as birds. A reintroduced population of eagle owls could once again play a beneficial role in the Danube Delta ecosystem.  *This image is copyright of its original author Eagle owls not only play a key role in the ecosystems but also speak to the imagination of people.STAFFAN WIDSTRAND; WILD WONDERS OF EUROPE “The coastal area of the delta is home to large colonies of rats,” explains Maxim Yakovlev, an ornithologist at the Danube Biosphere Reserve. “These destroy the eggs of many birds that breed here. Going forwards, we hope that a stable population of eagle owls will help to control rat numbers.” It is not only breeding birds that may be glad to see eagle owls regularly patrolling the landscapes of the Danube Delta once again. “Delta residents and visitors will surely be glad to encounter such a magnificent bird,” says Yakovlev. “With its huge yellow eyes, prominent ‘ear tufts’ and booming ‘ooo-hu‘ call, the eagle owl features in many Ukrainian fairy tales.” |
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