What is rewilding?


R


ewilding has emerged over the past three decades as one of the most imaginative and ambitious movements in global conservation. At its core lies a radical but


intuitive idea: ecosystems can regain their vitality, complexity, and self-direction if the processes that once shaped them are restored. Rather than focusing solely on protecting individual species, rewilding seeks to revive relationships—migration, predation, grazing, disturbance, succession—that allow landscapes to function as dynamic, resilient systems. It is a shift from managing nature to enabling it, from preservation to regeneration, from static reserves to living, evolving worlds. Although the term “rewilding” is relatively new, the impulse


behind it is ancient, echoing Indigenous stewardship traditions that understood landscapes as reciprocal, relational, and alive. Today, rewilding has become a global conversation, taking different forms in different places, shaped by local histories, ecologies, and cultural values. Across continents, five broad models have emerged, each offering a distinct vision of how to restore the wild.


1. Prairie-scale connectivity: American Prairie Te first model is the prairie-scale connectivity approach


exemplified by American Prairie in north-central Montana. Teir work is rooted in the recognition that the Great Plains were once a vast, continuous grassland shaped by the movements of bison, pronghorn, elk, and predators across immense distances. Fences—barbed wire strung across the plains over the past century—fractured that continuity, blocking migration and fragmenting habitat. American Prairie’s strategy is to reverse that fragmentation


by assembling a large, connected reserve through land acquisition, partnerships, and the systematic removal or


A local return: Bison and Indigenous ste


wardship in the Prairie State A recent event in northern Illinois offers a vivid,


contemporary example of how rewilding models can overlap and reinforce one another. Just twenty-three miles from my home, a small herd of American bison was released onto the restored grasslands of Burlington Prairie, marking the first time in more than two centuries that bison have set hoof on this landscape. The project is unusual not only for its ecological ambition but for its governance: the animals are owned by the American Indian Center of Chicago, and their release and longterm care are being carried out in partnership with local Native communities.


modification of fencing. Teir efforts have already eliminated more than a hundred miles of obsolete wire, reopening ancient pathways for wildlife. Unlike many rewilding projects, American Prairie is not focused primarily on species reintroduction; instead, it aims to restore the ecological choreography of the grasslands themselves. Bison function as landscape architects, shaping vegetation patterns, creating habitat mosaics, and driving nutrient cycles. Te project’s ambition—an eventual reserve of roughly three million acres— places it among the largest conservation visions in the world. What makes it especially distinctive is its integration with working ranchlands and its emphasis on coexistence rather than exclusion. In this model, rewilding is not a fenced-off experiment but a living, permeable landscape where wildlife and human livelihoods interweave. In this sense, the Illinois herd embodies (see box below)


the connectivity ethos of American Prairie—restoring the ecological work of large herbivores—and the relational, sovereignty-centered framework of Indigenous-led rewilding. Even at a small scale, the presence of bison begins to reanimate prairie processes: grazing patterns that create habitat mosaics, nutrient redistribution through dung and movement, disturbance patches that open niches for plants, insects, and fungi. Teir return also restores a cultural relationship that predates the state itself, reaffirming that rewilding is not only about ecological function but about the renewal of human– land connections. In Illinois, as in many places, the future of rewilding may lie in these hybrid models—where ecological restoration and Indigenous stewardship converge to bring back both species and the stories that shaped them.


2.Trophic rewilding: Europe’s functional revival A second model, most visible in Europe, is trophic rewilding.


Here the focus is on restoring ecological roles by reintroducing or protecting key species—especially large herbivores, carnivores, and ecosystem engineers—rather than assembling large tracts of land. Rewilding Europe, a network of projects across nine major regions, has championed this approach by bringing back European bison, wild horses, lynx, wolves, brown bears, and beavers, species whose behaviors once shaped the continent’s forests, rivers, and floodplains. Because Europe is densely populated and heavily parceled,


the emphasis is less on creating vast contiguous reserves and more on reestablishing ecological functions within existing landscapes. Grazing by semi-wild herbivores maintains open meadows and prevents forest overgrowth; predators help regulate herbivore populations and restore trophic balance; and beavers transform waterways by building dams that slow floods, create wetlands, and increase biodiversity. Tis model is pragmatic, adaptive, and often opportunistic, working with the landscapes that exist rather than trying to recreate those that have been lost. It is also deeply cultural, engaging local communities, tourism economies, and shifting public attitudes toward wildlife.


3. Closed-system herbivore experiments: Oostvaardersplassen A third model is the closed-system herbivore experiment,


best known through the example of Oostvaardersplassen in 26 FUNGI Volume 19:2 Summer 2026


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