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.
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.
Head of Landscapes at Rewilding Europe, Deli Saavedra has the important task of monitoring the progress of rewilding efforts in different areas currently underway across Europe. In an interview, he talks to us about the biggest challenges of his job, the future of this collective and unified project and his plans for the future.
The ability of the Eurasian beaver to create new habitats for a host of wildlife species, and to deliver a range of benefits for people, is amazing. Once on the verge of extinction, the beaver’s expansion across Europe over the last 60 years is a cause for celebration. But what exactly are the animal’s positive impacts?
Twelve Portuguese Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations sent an open letter to the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, asking him to express his support for the European Commission’s proposal for a Nature Restoration Law and his commitment to an expedited process at the next Environment Council, which will take place on December 20th.
At the beginning of November, the second meeting of the Communication team of the various European rewilding areas, for which Rewilding Europe is responsible, took place. One of the goals of this team is to spread this conservation approach, thereby generating pride and public support for the amplification of rewilding efforts across Europe. After a first meeting in the Netherlands, even before the pandemic, the second meeting was held in Portugal, organized by Rewilding Portugal, and served to create bridges, strengthen ties and work on joint strategies for the future.
The symposium, which helped promote rewilding in both a European and Portuguese context, featured a range of presentations from rewilding thought leaders. It has so far attracted over 2000 online views.
After this summer’s environmental catastrophe in Serra da Estrela, in which at least 25 thousand hectares burned in successive fires over several weeks, it is essential to bring together all the interested parties in the territory and at the national level to prepare a serious and realistic proposal to the environmental recovery of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park. In this sense, Rewilding Portugal sent a proposal for urgent ecological restoration measures to several key actors in the territory and with responsibilities in this matter.
In July of this year, the regenerative laboratories that are part of the LIFE ENPLC project, in which Rewilding Portugal is a partner, visited two of the rewilding areas that our organization manages along the Greater Côa Valley: Vale Carapito (Sabugal) and Paul de Toirões (Almeida).
A student of the University of Porto, Inês Silva, who were attending her Master’s in Economics and Environmental Management, developed her master’s dissertation throughout the 2021/2022 academic year in partnership with Rewilding Portugal, exploring the potential of the Iberian ibex in landscape management.