Laurien Holtjer has been Rewilding Europe’s Head of Communication for many years and is one of the faces responsible for the organization’s strategy for the coming years in terms of communication and the involvement of local people and communities. In this interview, we learn more about her vision of the rewilding approach and how she analyzes the evolution of the Greater Côa Valley in recent years.
On 19 June, Paredes de Coura hosted an event promoted in partnership with LIFE WolFlux, a project coordinated by Rewilding Portugal, to promote the training and replicability of solutions for the prevention and detection of poaching aimed at the Iberian wolf and its wild prey. The training session was aimed at officers and civilians from the GNR-SEPNA, Nature Watchers, and the ICNF’s National Corps of Forestry Agents and Forest Sappers, working in the districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga and Vila Real, where the Iberian wolf occurs in Portugal.
At the beginning of 2024, we launched our new magazine Wild 2023, which presented all the developments in our work over the past year. Our team leader Pedro Prata gave an overview of this journey in the magazine’s editorial, which we are now publishing in open format. Over the next few months we will gradually share the various news items and articles that make up this magazine.
A herd of eight European bison have just arrived in Herdade do Vale Feitoso in Portugal. Managed in cooperation with the Rewilding Portugal team, they will enhance carbon sequestration, boost biodiversity, and support the growth of nature-based tourism.
A new study has calculated that the European bison population currently roaming free in the Southern Carpathians rewilding landscape in Romania could help to draw down and store 54,000 tonnes of carbon a year – the equivalent of the annual CO2 emissions of almost 123.000 european cars. This positive climate impact magnifies the importance of supporting wildlife comeback across European landscapes, with rewilding playing a key role.
A survey carried out by the University of Aveiro has shown that rewilding efforts in Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley are helping roe deer return to the landscape. This is good news for Iberian wolves – and for local farmers.
A livestock guard dog programme overseen by Rewilding Portugal has just reached its impressive target, with the 101st dog handed over to a local farmer. By reducing livestock predation, the programme will support the recovery of the endangered and ecologically important Iberian wolf.
The LIFE LUPI LYNX project, which began in January, brings together seven Portuguese and two Spanish organisations in a cross-border effort to create the socio-ecological conditions that will contribute to the recovery of the Iberian wolf and Iberian lynx south of the Douro river, in areas where both species are beginning to appear or still have an irregular presence. The aim of this project is to promote better coexistence between these predators and man, guaranteeing habitat conditions and coexistence with human activities.
At the beginning of November, Portuguese photographer and videographer Ricardo Lourenço won three prizes at the Portuguese Rewilding Photo Contest, which is co-organised by the Rewilding Portugal team. In October, one of his images was also highly commended at the prestigious European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. We caught up with Ricardo to find out more about his life, work, and thoughts on rewilding.
Bárbara Carvalho is one of the faces of the Wild Côa Symphony project, a collaborative artistic project that won a competition from the Endangered Landscapes Programme to carry out an artistic residency in the Greater Côa Valley. This interview was carried out in the beginning of this year, and the project is at its final stage and the first results were already presented to the public.