Rewilding Futures: Shaping Tomorrow's Wild

Large herbivores play a key role in ecosystems. However, rewilding projects in mainland Europe and the UK who want to restore large herbivores to natural landscapes face a legal system designed for traditional livestock. The Lifescape Project is working with projects and other rewilding organisations to tackle this problem. This presentation will: 1. Consider how large herbivores can be a key component of rewilding projects with a significant ecological impact; 2. Provide an overview of the legal treatment of large herbivores in rewilding in the UK and Europe (including legal regulation relating to their management, welfare, health, disease risk etc); 3. Discuss specific legal barriers to using large herbivores in rewilding (including identification rules, rules on collection of fallen stock, animal welfare rules/guidance and disease testing rules); and 4. Look at opportunities for innovation in overcoming barriers and update on Lifescape’s aspiration for a 'kept wild' legal category.