What rewilding success stories prove nature can recover?

The answer

Yellowstone's 1995 wolf reintroduction transformed the entire ecosystem through trophic cascades. Wolves reduced overgrazing elk herds, allowing willow and aspen to recover along riverbanks, which stabilized erosion and even changed river courses. European bison, extinct in the wild by 1927, now number over 9,000 across Europe thanks to breeding programs from just 12 captive individuals. In the UK, the Knepp Estate in Sussex converted 1,400 hectares of unprofitable farmland to rewilding in 2001; by 2024, turtle doves, nightingales, and purple emperor butterflies had returned. Spain's rewilding of the Greater Coa Valley brought back Iberian wolves, griffon vultures, and wild horses to 120,000 hectares of abandoned agricultural land.