By Dora Leitner
REWRITE project is now featured on the map of wilderness, free evolution and renaturation initiatives coordinated by the French Committee of IUCN.
Since 2011, the IUCN French Committee’s Protected Areas Programme has been working on concepts related to wilderness, naturalness, free evolution (libre évolution), and feral nature. Through its Wilderness and Feral Nature Working Group, established in 2012, the initiative promotes conservation approaches that strengthen ecological integrity and allow natural processes to unfold with minimal human intervention.
As part of this effort, the working group maps initiatives across French-speaking Europe that integrate free evolution, renaturation, or rewilding approaches. The aim is to connect projects, increase visibility, and foster exchange among actors working to restore ecological functionality and natural dynamics.
REWRITE’s inclusion on this map highlights the project’s contribution to advancing rewilding as a science-based and practice-oriented approach to ecosystem restoration. By supporting the recovery of natural processes and strengthening the evidence base for nature-based solutions, REWRITE aligns closely with the principles promoted by the wilderness initiative.
We are proud to be part of this growing network of initiatives working towards more resilient, self-sustaining ecosystems across Europe.