What is Rewilding?
Rewilding is a conservation strategy focused on restoring biodiversity and ecosystem function by protecting large core wilderness areas, establishing wildlife corridors for ecological connectivity, and reintroducing or protecting keystone species—particularly apex predators such as wolves, bears, and large carnivores. The approach aims to create self-regulating, self-sustaining ecosystems that require minimal human intervention or management. The term has also expanded beyond ecological restoration to encompass human practices: personal rewilding refers to reconnecting with natural rhythms, sensory awareness, and the more-than-human world through embodied practices that dissolve the perceived boundary between self and nature.
Origins & Lineage
The term rewilding was coined by members of the grassroots network Earth First!, first appearing in print in 1990. In 1992, Dave Foreman coined the term “rewilding” to mean wilderness and apex carnivore recovery. Foreman, an environmental activist and founder of Earth First! and later the Rewilding Institute, developed the concept from earlier wilderness conservation ideas championed by figures like Aldo Leopold and John Muir.
It was refined and grounded in a scientific context in a paper published in 1998 by conservation biologists Michael Soulé and Reed Noss. Their influential article “Rewilding and Biodiversity: Complementary Goals for Continental Conservation” established the scientific framework known as the “3Cs”: cores, corridors, and carnivores—protecting core areas of wild land, linked together by corridors allowing passage for carnivores to move around the landscape and perform their functional role. In 1991, Foreman and Soulé co-founded the Wildlands Project (now Wildlands Network) to advance continental-scale conservation.
The word “rewilding” entered the dictionary in 2011, and was further popularized by George Monbiot’s 2013 book Feral, which advocated the concept of letting nature manage itself and embracing natural change in the landscape.
How It’s Practiced
Ecological rewilding involves habitat restoration, removal of invasive species, reintroduction of extirpated wildlife (especially keystone species like beavers, wolves, and large herbivores), and removal of human infrastructure such as roads and dams. Projects like Yellowstone to Yukon (launched in 1997) envisioned wide corridors of protected land stretching from Canada’s Yukon territory through national parks to the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, discouraging roads and human developments that would impede the movement of large predators. The 1995 reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park demonstrated how apex predators create trophic cascades—reducing elk populations, allowing vegetation recovery, and benefiting multiple species.
Rewilding has spawned multiple approaches: “passive rewilding” emerged in Europe following rural land abandonment, referring to a strategy whereby natural succession was allowed to follow its own course with the unaided colonisation of wild species. “Trophic rewilding” focuses specifically on restoring top-down trophic interactions through species translocations.
Human/personal rewilding manifests in spiritual and wellness contexts as practices for reconnecting with nature, bodily cycles, and sensory awareness. A rewilding of the self is described as a re-enchantment with the natural world, a re-awakening of senses and intuition, a dissolving of false boundaries between atomised selves and the Earthly home—a restoration of meaningful connections with nature, self, and others, ultimately a regeneration of sacred relationship with the natural world. Practices include forest bathing, tracking menstrual cycles in relation to lunar phases, barefoot walking (“earthing”), mindfulness outdoors, foraging, traditional crafts, and seasonal living.
Rewilding Today
Ecological rewilding has become mainstream conservation practice. Rewilding has matured into a mainstream approach in nature conservation, with more than 450 academic papers published since the term first appeared in print in the early 1990s. Organizations like Rewilding Europe, Rewilding Britain, and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative implement large-scale projects across continents. The United Nations has listed rewilding as one of several methods needed to achieve massive scale restoration of natural ecosystems as part of the 30x30 campaign.
In spiritual and wellness communities, rewilding appears in retreat centers, workshops, and online courses. Programs combine meditation, nature immersion, shamanic practices, and teachings on cyclical living. Organizations like The Art of Rewilding offer “deep nature” experiences influenced by adaptations of Indigenous vision quest traditions. Books such as Micah Mortali’s Rewilding: Meditations, Practices, and Skills for Awakening in Nature (2019) and Marc Bekoff’s Rewilding Our Hearts (2014) bridge mindfulness practice with ecological awareness.
Seekers encounter rewilding through forest therapy sessions, women’s circles focused on menstrual cycle awareness, permaculture courses, wilderness skills training, and eco-spirituality retreats that integrate Celtic traditions, animism, or Earth-based practices.
Common Misconceptions
Rewilding is not simply abandoning land or “returning to the Stone Age.” Ecological rewilding requires careful planning, monitoring, and sometimes active intervention such as species reintroduction or invasive species removal. It does not advocate removing all human presence, but rather reducing human control to allow natural processes to function.
Rewilding is not the same as traditional conservation or preservation. While preservation maintains status quo, rewilding actively seeks to restore lost ecological processes and missing species. It is not limited to remote wilderness—urban and peri-urban rewilding projects exist.
Personal rewilding is not cultural appropriation of Indigenous practices, though some programs have been criticized for this. It is not anti-civilization rhetoric or escapism, but rather integration of natural rhythms into contemporary life. Claims that menstrual cycles universally sync with lunar cycles remain scientifically contentious; while some correlation exists for some women at certain life stages, it is not universal.
Rewilding has faced criticism regarding land rights, impacts on rural communities, and debates over which historical baseline to restore ecosystems toward. “Pleistocene rewilding”—introducing proxy species for extinct megafauna—remains particularly controversial.
How to Begin
For ecological engagement: Read Dave Foreman’s Rewilding North America (2004) for the foundational vision, or George Monbiot’s Feral (2013) for an accessible introduction. Support organizations like Rewilding Europe, Wildlands Network, or local land trusts. Volunteer for habitat restoration projects or wildlife corridor initiatives.
For personal practice: Start with sensory walks—spending 20 minutes outdoors noticing sounds, textures, and smells without devices. Track natural cycles: observe moon phases, seasonal shifts, or your own bodily rhythms. Read Micah Mortali’s Rewilding: Meditations, Practices, and Skills for Awakening in Nature for guided practices. Seek forest therapy guides, nature connection mentors, or land-based spiritual teachers. Join local foraging walks, moon circles, or wilderness skills courses that teach tracking, fire-making, or plant identification. Practice “sitting spot”—returning regularly to the same outdoor location to deepen relationship with place.