Rewilding Scottish Highlands could help the UK hit 30×30 conservation goal

Up to a quarter of Europe could be suitable for rewilding, a new analysis has revealed.

Restoring wilderness in areas of Scotland, Scandinavia and Spain would help to raise the continent’s biodiversity, which has sharply declined over the past 200 years.

Restoring Scotland’s natural landscapes could be crucial to help the U.K. meet its biodiversity targets.

As almost a sixth of the U.K.’s wildlife is threatened with extinction, it’s more important than ever to give nature places to thrive. Rewilding is one part of the solution, which looks to restore natural processes that allow ecosystems to regulate themselves.

Research published in the journal Current Biology suggests that large parts of Scotland’s highlands and islands could be a good place to start. Small changes could encourage key animals like the wildcat and pine marten to spread, and return to areas they were driven out of centuries ago.

Historic losses have left the U.K. as one of the most “nature-depleted” countries in the world, but the return of these species would help boost Britain’s dwindling biodiversity. It would also put the country within touching distance of fulfilling its pledge to protect 30% of its landscape by 2030, a goal known as 30×30.

Professor Miguel B. Araújo, the first author of the study, says that rewilding is “crucial for countries like the U.K.”

“By allowing wild herbivores to recolonize these lands, or by actively reintroducing them, we can substitute domestic livestock with wild herbivores,” Araújo explains. “This approach helps restore natural processes of land management, reducing the risk of uncontrolled fires and promoting a more resilient and ecologically balanced landscape.”

But it’s not just the U.K. that could benefit. Up to 1.2 million square kilometers of land across Europe has also been identified as suitable for rewilding. Restoring even a fraction of this area would represent a fundamental change in the continent’s relationship with nature.

What happened to Europe’s biodiversity?

The declines in Europe’s biodiversity began hundreds of years ago during the agricultural revolutions. More intensive farming practices and the proliferation of larger farms drove increasing yields for farmers, but also led to the loss of wildlife-rich habitats like woodlands, meadows and wetlands.

Some countries came out of this transition with less biodiversity than others. Island nations like the U.K., Ireland and Malta were hit particularly hard as the changes to the landscape were concentrated into a smaller area, with fewer opportunities for wildlife to return.

As habitat losses have continued to mount over the centuries, they have been added to by more recent threats, including climate change and pollution. It’s now estimated that around 19% of Europe’s plants and animals are threatened with extinction, with insects particularly at risk.

Amid warnings over the state of the world’s ecosystems, many European countries have signed up to the 30×30 initiative. However, deciding where to place the required protected areas is a sensitive and sometimes controversial issue, slowing progress.

The researchers behind the current paper wanted to help address this problem by looking at rewilding in particular. They chose to focus on finding large areas of land with a limited human presence that are already home to at least some species vital for healthy ecosystems to recover.

This story is republished courtesy of Natural History Museum. Read the original story here.