Adventure

Rewilding Experiences Are on the Rise—But Are They Making a Difference?

From Chile to the Scottish Highlands, travelers are participating in efforts to return environments to their natural state. 
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Pete Helme

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In Patagonia National Park in southern Chile, wind-carved pampas sweep toward soaring mountains, and pumas stalk guanacos across the steppe. But not long ago, this area was home to several large sheep ranches that drove out at-risk wildlife and degraded the landscape. The creation of the park is the latest in the Route of Parks of Patagonia, an ambitious conservation project founded by Tompkins Conservation and Rewilding Chile aimed at returning ecosystems to their natural state of equilibrium and abundance.

Guanacoes in Torres del Paine national park, Patagonia, Chile

Getty

Rewilding Chile is joined by similar efforts around the world taking an active approach to ecosystem restoration. These projects work through a synergistic removal of invasive species, reforestation, and reintroduction of endemic flora and fauna. “The concept of rewilding isn’t just looking at the number of trees being planted or the amount of green space you see from a satellite,” says James Watson, a professor of conservation science at the University of Queensland in Australia. “You want all the parts of the food chain to be working; rewilding is a holistic, functional approach to getting the ecosystem back on track.”

At a time when scientists agree we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to mitigate the effects of climate change and reverse biodiversity loss, restoring decimated landscapes plays a key role. In 2021, the United Nations launched its Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and in 2020, a Global Charter for Rewilding the Earth was endorsed by over 30 NGOs across the globe advocating that rewilding be prioritized in combatting the climate crisis. For people outside the conservation and scientific communities, tourism is providing a way to get involved.

This type of travel has already taken hold: A 2022 survey by experiential travel company Virtuoso identified eco-conscious travel as a top trend this year, with 82 percent of travelers reporting the pandemic has made them want to travel more responsibly. A number of travel companies and lodges are focusing on rewilding—and they say their guests are already furthering the efforts of scientists and conservationists.

Alladale Wilderness Reserve

Alladale Wilderness Reserve

Rewilding on the rise

Explora’s new lodge in Patagonia National Park immerses guests in a rewilded landscape on hikes and overland adventures led by expert naturalists. Here, travelers are able to witness the regeneration of grasslands, forest, and wild species, including the endangered huemul, or Andean deer, and the natural return of guanacos and their predators, pumas. Other animals like condors and rhea are being bred and released back into the landscape. “When people visit this place, their connection with nature changes,” says Carolina Morgado, executive director of Rewilding Chile.

It’s not just in South America that travelers will see rewilding popping up on itineraries. The Scottish Highlands was once one of the most biodiverse forests in the world, acting as a powerful carbon sink, and now there is very little wild left. One initiative trying to change that is Wilderness Scotland’s Rewilding Retreat in Cairngorms National Park, which benefits rewilding organization Scotland: The Big Picture. Non-profit Trees for Life is also opening the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre in 2023, which will educate visitors on rewilding in the Highlands through immersive experiences, and include a 40-room lodge.

Farther north in the Highlands are private ecotourism initiatives like Alladale Wilderness Reserve, where over 23,000 acres have been dedicated to reforestation (they’ve planted over 1 million trees) and endemic species reintroduction, including the red squirrel. A lodge on the property generates revenue for the rewilding work and guides educate guests on nature restoration, all while trekking through rolling emerald hills. “Scotland’s well known for its whiskey, castles, and golf, and now we want to put rewilding on the map,” says owner Paul Lister, who also founded the European Nature Trust, a biodiversity NGO.

How exactly travelers are contributing

In South Australia, by removing sheep stock from the land and controlling invasive species, native vegetation and locally extinct animals are once again flourishing on Wild Bush Luxury’s Arkaba Conservancy. While guests experience outback safaris and multi-day treks across the 60,000-acre wildlife reserve, they have the opportunity to help check feral cat traps (the cats threaten endemic species), set up wildlife cameras, and join biologists on land surveys.

Similarly, Explora is collaborating with Rewilding Chile to develop programs where guests can help track and monitor wildlife, adding valuable data to the rewilding work, while a portion of guests’ revenue is invested in conservation in Patagonia National Park.

Some companies focus solely on these direct financial contributions: In Italy, Exodus Travels has partnered with Rewilding Europe to launch active trips like their Rewilding the Apennines, with 100 percent of the proceeds supporting Rewilding Europe’s restoration work in the region. And in Australia, the Tasmanian Walking Company’s new Walk for Wild hikes will benefit the World Wildlife Fund’s Regenerate Australia project, which includes rewilding areas devastated by wildfires and agriculture.

Walk for Wild's Three Capes Lodge 'Wild Wellness' Walk

Walk for Wild

Measuring the impact

It all sounds great—but is the support of laymen moving the needle on these efforts?

Whether travelers are supporting the work of conservationists financially or are getting their hands dirty out in the field, experts say their contribution makes a real impact—some rewilding projects simply wouldn’t be possible without visiting volunteers. “Many NGOs [working in rewilding] are begging for volunteers,” says Watson. 

“Resourcing is always an issue as a small tourism business that has been growing over the past couple of years, so having visitors help out is beneficial from a manpower perspective,” says Charles Carlow, owner of Wild Bush Luxury. Through working on these projects, travelers are contributing useful data. “The trail cameras [set up by travelers] help us identify trends in feral predators that dictate where we should be putting traps out, and help monitor the presence of other species like sheep on the property,” says Carlow. Visitors also get an education in the conservation issues at hand while doing this work, which often results in ongoing advocacy.

But perhaps even more integral to rewilding’s success than citizen science, is tourism’s role in the development of a non-extractive economy that engages the local community. “Tourism here provides a means for livelihoods that are directly linked to the health of the landscape,” says Carlow.

In areas like Patagonia National Park, former sheep farmers were involved in Tompkins Conservation’s restoration work, and gateway communities benefit from the influx of tourism. This local buy-in is central to rewilding’s success. “That is what will ensure the long-term impact of what we’re doing,” says Morgado.

Through this whole ecosystem approach, landscapes are showing new signs of life, but it's a long game. “To fix biodiversity loss and climate change, it's going to take hundreds of years,” says Watson. Yet the work is urgent. “In Australia, if there are more and more fires because of climate change, there are species that will go extinct without active intervention,” says Watson.

While rewilding’s potential to reverse the damage we’ve done to the planet is heartening, it’s important to keep in mind that it wouldn’t be necessary if we had simply conserved wilderness areas over the millennia. This should still be our first line of defense. “Rewilding starts by conserving those last intact places,” says Watson. “Protecting the last of the wild is everything.”