Urban rewilding as a key strategy to combat biodiversity decline

Urban rewilding as a key strategy to combat biodiversity decline

In recent years, the concept of "rewilding" has risen to prominence in the conservation community, but to date, most efforts have been concentrated on large protected areas far from cities—and consequently, far from urban areas suffering pronounced biodiversity losses.

Urban rewilding brings animal species back to city patches, boosting ecosystems

In recent years, the concept of "rewilding" has risen to prominence in the conservation community, but to date, most efforts have been concentrated on large protected areas far from cities-and consequently, far from urban areas suffering pronounced biodiversity losses.

By 2050, nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities — where biodiversity declines faster than almost anywhere else. Yet urban rewilding is already bringing back beavers, hornbills, and platypuses — and this is just the beginning.

Urban rewilding combats global biodiversity decline

A new study led by the University of Sydney reveals how cities around the world are restoring wildlife to their former habitats in the face of ongoing urban sprawl. The global literature review led by Dr Patrick Finnerty from the University’s Faculty of Science points to successful examples of urban rewilding from around the world, including beavers swimming in London for the first time in 400 years and platypus populations growing on Sydney’s p…