The Rewild Podcast

Tour du Valat is a private research institute that owns and manages land on the French Camargue. These Mediterranean wetlands are rich in life thanks to a patchwork of habitats created by river, tide, wind and wave.

From the iconic Greater Flamingo, to the wonderfully weird European Eel, a wealth of wildlife can be found here. But even so, these are habitats under stress, and this low-lying ecosystem is at the sharp end of a changing climate.

Can rewilding safeguard this important landscape for the future?

Tour du Valat is a member of the European Rewilding Network, a collection of groundbreaking initiatives across the continent, brought together by Rewilding Europe as part of a broader rewilding movement.

Grote Netewoud is a rewilding area in the heart of one of Europe's most densely populated countries. Here, Belgium's largest nature organisation, Natuurpunt, is restoring the natural flow of water to allow the return of alluvial forest.
This special ecosystem is a tangle of willow and alder, where beavers work their magic & an eruption of dragonflies & damselflies dance above the standing water.
But can rewilding still work at a smaller scale & alongside all the complications human infrastructure brings to the table?
Grote Netewoud is a member of the European Rewilding Network, a collection of groundbreaking initiatives across the continent, brought together by Rewilding Europe as part of a broader rewilding movement.

The Greater Côa Valley is a 120,000-hectare watershed where rewilding is helping create a healthy, natural corridor for some of the country's most iconic species.

The Rewilding Portugal team is working to improve co-existence between predators and rural communities whilst creating more natural ecosystems that are resilient to fire.

The Greater Côa Valley is one of ten pioneering, large-scale landscapes created by Rewilding Europe to demonstrate the benefits of wilder nature.

Join James Shooter as he discovers this awe-inspiring location, home to Iberian wolves, Egyptian vultures and dung beetles.

The Danube Delta is a complex network of river channels, wetlands, marshes, inter-channel islands and riparian forests. No matter the season, the region hums, thrums and squawks with life. Here, restoration works are focused on reversing years of drainage by agriculture and reconnecting the natural flow of water across the landscape.
Further inland, at the Tarutino Steppe, the team are also busy regenerating large swathes of semi-dry grasslands, by reintroducing an army of grazing animals, both big and small, to reignite natural processes.

The work here is ambitious on any level, but to keep such focus on the restoration of nature, whilst a large-scale invasion of your country is happening, is a testament to the resolve and resilience of the people here, and also the hope that rewilding brings.

The Rhodope Mountains in southeastern Europe bridge the continents of Europe and Asia. This geographical crossroads makes it an area of high biodiversity, but over time the region has lost many of its key species due to poaching, habitat loss and persecution.

Its position also means it's at the sharp end of climate change on the continent. Warming temperatures make wildfires and new diseases from the south an ever-increasing risk.

The rewilding team here are fully focused on improving the circle of life. A suite of large herbivores are being reintroduced to maintain the mosaic, semi-open landscape, whilst providing sustenance for predators and scavengers alike. Vultures are a key component of the Eastern Rhodopes, and their restoration will help limit the spread of disease and recycle nutrients through the landscape.