Rewilding a temperate rainforest [Northern Europe]

Isabella Clarke writes: “‘We have nine different species of bat here,’ says Merlin Hanbury-Tenison as we walk through the wooded valley on his family farm in Cornwall. ‘Including rare greater horseshoe bats.’ The woodland is temperate rainforest, a globally rare habitat (just 1% of land cover). In the UK, as much as 20% of the land may have been temperate rainforest; only 1% of that total remains…” Continue reading Rewilding a temperate rainforest [Northern Europe]

Rewilding Rio: The story of Tijuca NP [South America]

Lara Norberto Renzeti writes: “At the heart of Rio de Janeiro, one of the most iconic cities in the world, lies a 3958-hectare expanse of imposing, green-covered hills. The Tijuca Forest has witnessed a history of devastation followed by a slow, though unsteady, process of restoration. By the 19th century, what was once a fragment of the Atlantic Forest had become a patchwork of areas dedicated to timber…” Continue reading Rewilding Rio: The story of Tijuca NP [South America]

Woodland regeneration in Scotland [Northern Europe]

Rory Richardson writes: “NatureScot’s Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve (NNR) is a spectacular upland site covering nearly 4000 hectares and straddling the east and west Highlands of Scotland. A mosaic of habitats stretches from the shores of Loch Laggan to the high summit plateau. Ecological restoration has changed the landscape of Creag Meagaidh over the last 35 years, and the reserve…” Continue reading Woodland regeneration in Scotland [Northern Europe]

Boosting red squirrels’ chances [Northern Europe]

Richard Bunting writes: “On the remote Drimnin Estate, overlooking the Sound of Mull on Scotland’s west coast, a new population of red squirrels is settling into their new home. Earlier this year, six squirrels were released there by rewilding charity Trees for Life, with the enthusiastic backing of the landowners. The release is the latest step in a pioneering project which is offering hope for the long-term…” Continue reading Boosting red squirrels’ chances [Northern Europe]

Torrey pines: Mistakes and progress [Western USA]

Wayne Tyson writes: “I’ll begin with a case of Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) restoration by the City of San Diego that started over half a century ago. As a new park construction inspector for the city, I was assigned an already-designed project for native plant revegetation, which consisted of the “hydroseeding” of the cut slope and fills along a highway known as Torrey Pines Road (hydroseeding involves…” Continue reading Torrey pines: Mistakes and progress [Western USA]

Rewilding the piney woods [Southern USA]

Tony Hiss writes: “Some years ago, E. O. Wilson, the great conservation biologist, took me on a rewilding field trip to meet M. C. Davis, a friend of his who was growing a forest in the Florida Panhandle. Davis, a multimillionaire commodities trader, grew up there in a trailer and raised his first stake playing poker. Like Wilson, Davis was tireless and an elaborately courteous southern charmer (Wilson…” Continue reading Rewilding the piney woods [Southern USA]

Rewilding in an unlikely landscape [Northeast USA]

Jon Leibowitz writes: “What if someone told you a rewilding story that took place on a grand scale—the size of entire countries? As the story goes, a primeval forest disappears practically overnight (geologically speaking) leaving a landscape reminiscent of modern-day Scotland. Entire forests are brought down, first for lumber and charcoal and then pasture and farms. Carnivores like wolves…” Continue reading Rewilding in an unlikely landscape [Northeast USA]

Restoring an Irish Atlantic rainforest [Northern Europe]

Eoghan Daltun writes: “In May 2009 I sold my small house in Dublin and moved with my family to Beara, one of the peninsulas that extend, finger-like, from southwest Ireland into the Atlantic Ocean. There we bought a 73-acre farm that had long been left unused agriculturally for around a century, allowing wild habitats, especially native temperate rainforest, to develop naturally over most of the land…” Continue reading Restoring an Irish Atlantic rainforest [Northern Europe]

The Mali Elephant Project: Tellem’s story [West Africa]

Tellem writes: “Many people believe that I am of the Dogon people of Western Africa, but in fact, I am Tellem. At least according to the colonists. Years ago, when they first came to our lands they asked us who we were. We told them, “We are from here,” which in their ears made the sound “te-lem.” And that is how we got our name, The People from Here. As one of the people from here, I am especially…” Continue reading The Mali Elephant Project: Tellem’s story [West Africa]

Beginnings: Nick and Margaret’s Place [Southern USA]

Tom Horton writes: “If I were the Choptank River, it’s on Nick and Margaret Carter’s place I’d want to be born, to meander some 70 miles toward Chesapeake Bay, swelling from a sweetwater trickle old Nick can hop across, to my salty mouth, five miles wide down by Tilghman Island. From the Carters’, above the reach of tides and salt, the river seeps cold and clear and steady from beneath the mossy roots…” Continue reading Beginnings: Nick and Margaret’s Place [Southern USA]